Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism by Wouter J. Hanegraaff (PDF)

Description

Now available in one volume This is the first comprehensive reference work to cover the entire domain of “Gnosis and Western Esotericism” from the period of Late Antiquity to the present. Containing around 400 articles by over 180 international specialists, it provides critical overviews discussing the nature and historical development of all its important currents and manifestations, from Gnosticism and Hermetism to Astrology, Alchemy and Magic, from the Hermetic Tradition of the Renaissance to Rosicrucianism and Christian Theosophy, and from Freemasonry and Illuminism to 19th-century Occultism and the contemporary New Age movement. Furthermore it contains articles about the life and work of all the major personalities in the history of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, discussing their ideas, significance, and historical influence. This one volume edition is an unabridged version of the two volume edition published in 2005.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review ‘This superb dictionary should be an early stop for readers seeking basic, up-to-date, scholarly introductions to many aspects of Western religious eclecticism. There is no reference like it for its range and the objectivity of its coverage. Summing Up: Essential. All academic libraries serving upper-level undergraduates and above.’S. Young, Choice, 2006’The entries present balanced, neutral accounts of the topics and the major persons involved with them without simplification, distortion, or reductionism…scholars will be delighted to have such a treasure take its place next to the popular treatments of the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections.’M.R. Pukkila, Choice, 2005.’The Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism is a brilliantly conceived and skillfully executed reference tool unlike anything the scholarly world has ever seen. In two massive volumes it covers every aspect of pagan, Jewish, and Christian religious discourses and phenomena traditionally labeled gnosticism, hermeticism, astrology, magic, the “occult sciences,” esoteric religion, and much more. The detailed and insightful articles, on nearly every related topic imaginable, are produced by an impressive array of renowned scholars, and usefully include up-to date bibliographies. Six years in the making, this is a work that every student of religion, ancient and modern, will certainly want to own.’Bart D. Ehrman, James A. Gray Distinguished Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’The Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism is a must for any who would consider themselves a scholar of Esotericism, and should at the very least be in every academic library in the English-speaking world.’J. Gordon Melton, Center for Studies on New Religions, 2005’… this important new reference work should be consulted by all those engaged in research in the areas covered by the dictionary. The reach of this work is truly astounding. The Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism promises to be the pre-eminent reference work of its kind for many years to come.’Andreas J. Köstenberger, Faith & Mission, 2005’The Dictionary places gnosis and esotericism in its historical perspective – not only the breadth of the described phenomenon is surprising, but also the fact that the subjects are covered in such an objective fashion.’NRC Handelsblad, 2005’Brill has produced a work on esotericism that will become the standard reference work on the subject. Never before has such a complete overview of this obscure peripheral area of religion appeared.’Leidsch Dagblad (Associated Press Services), 2005. About the Author Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He has published extensively on modern and contemporary Western esotericism, including a book devoted to the 15th-century Christian Hermetist Lodovico Lazzarelli and a monograph on the New Age movement. Antoine Faivre is Professor Emeritus of History of Esoteric and Mystical Currents in Modern and Contemporary Europe at the 5th section of the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Sorbonne), Paris, France. Roelof van den Broek is Professor Emeritus of History of Christianity at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Jean-Pierre Brach is Professor of History of Esoteric Currents in Modern and Contemporary Europe at the 5th section of the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Sorbonne), Paris, France.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism. Edited by Wouter J. Hanegraaff. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2006. Hardback, xxix + 1228 pages. ISBN 9004152318Since other reviewers, in pointing out what a superb reference work this book is, have done a good job of describing its contents, I will confine myself here mainly to a few remarks about its physical format and layout.The book is beautifully printed in double columns and in a somewhat tiny font on quality paper. It is stitched (or Smyth-sewn) in signatures in the traditional way so that when opened flat the spine will not crack and the pages will not fall out. And it is bound in decorative blue paper-covered boards (although cloth would have been preferable as I get the feeling that the paper will rub and wear quickly).The front cover features an interesting copperplate illustration taken from a book by Jacob Bohme (1682). Sadly this is the only illustration present and I feel that the book, since it’s really more of an ‘Encyclopedia’ than a ‘Dictionary’, would have been even more interesting than it already is if room could have been found for photographs of at least some of the more important persons, places, and items discussed.The articles I have so far read were, as is to be expected, scholarly, objective, and well-written, with all of them followed by quite full and up-to-date bibliographies in which some of the editors have conveniently placed the English titles in a separate section.Following the Introduction are two lists – a ‘List of Contributors’ and a ‘List of Entries.’ And at the end of the book we are given two indexes – an ‘Index of Groups and Organizations’ and an ‘Index of Persons’ but, surprisingly, no ‘Index of Subjects.’What this means in practice is that if, for example, we want to read up on the Nag Hammadi finds we are going to have poke around until we discover GNOSTICISM II: GNOSTIC LITERATURE where we will find ‘The Nag Hammadi Library’ covered on pages 419-420. Clearly then, to make full use of this Dictionary, it might be wise to first familiarize oneself with its contents. But this really isn’t the chore it may sound as the book is full of pleasant surprises and I’m constantly running into things I would never have expected to find.As for the price, considering the sheer amount of material in this book, an amount equivalent to at least five or six standard scholarly paperbacks, and considering also the ridiculously inflated prices being asked, for example, by an academic press such as Oxford University Press for books of vastly inferior quality such as

⭐(regarding which see my review) the price of this dictionary seems quite reasonable.All in all, then, I can recommend this book as an authoritative, well-produced, up-to-date and fascinating compendium of interesting and useful information. Dr. Hanegraaff and his team are to be congratulated on having provided us with such a superb reference work, while Brill is to be commended for having honored it with such a fitting and handsome format.

⭐TRIPLE EXCELLENT!!!

⭐One of the best scientific study about western esotericism

⭐This book might be called ‘Everything you wanted to know about religious subjects that lie outside the mainstream of Christian, Jewish, or Islamic religions.’ In fact, although this is a book on Gnosis or Gnosistism, it admits (unusual for a dictionary) that Gnosis is a word that really can’t be defined. At the very least, the concept of Gnosis has changed over time from a pejorative word to one with a presumption that it had to do with organized opposition to the early Christian church.The book is in dictionary format, more or less, with the understanding that it contains some 400 entries. 400 entries spread out over 100 pages comes out to three pages per entry. And in actual usage, the page count is not even. ‘Neoplatonism’ for instance runs 8 pages, ‘Perennial Philosophy’ has only one word: Tradition.There were approximately 180 contributors to the book, each an expert in a particular field, and coming from a world-wide range of countries. The main editor, Wouter J. Hanegraaff is a professor at the University of Amsterdam and the compilation of this work represents a task lasting six years, followed by two more years of work in producing the book. This book represents a momumental first effort. And it is likely to become a standard text in the field. I expect that over the years there will be later editions, but not frequently. It belongs in every religious library.

⭐Hanegraaff’s article “Entheogenic Esotericism” states that his book on New Age commits the fallacy of whitewashing, sanitizing, censoring, and omitting entheogens from New Age history, as is typical for Shamanism histories as well. He wrote that he should have perceived the forced concealment. One would think that a scholar of concealing and revealing would be attuned to this.Entheogens are so skillfully concealed in this falsely so-called Dictionary of Gnosis, they have been thoroughly covered-over. Scholars occluded entheogens, forgot that they did that, and then forgetfully asked if entheogens can simulate “the traditional methods”. His repentence is the openly concealed mushroom cover on his later book, Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Forgetful.Time shall be no more: waiting for a corrected 2nd edition.– Michael Hoffman, theorist of ego death and religious mythology in the timeless state of consciousness

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