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A Dark Muse: A History of the Occult, by Gary Lachman
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The occult was a crucial influence on the Renaissance, and it obsessed the popular thinkers of the day. But with the Age of Reason, occultism was sidelined; only charlatans found any use for it. Occult ideas did not disappear, however, but rather went underground. It developed into a fruitful source of inspiration for many important artists. Works of brilliance, sometimes even of genius, were produced under its influence. In A Dark Muse, Lachman discusses the Enlightenment obsession with occult politics, the Romantic explosion, the futuristic occultism of the fin de siècle, and the deep occult roots of the modernist movement. Some of the writers and thinkers featured in this hidden history of western thought and sensibility are Emanuel Swedenborg, Charles Baudelaire, J. K. Huysmans, August Strindberg, William Blake, Goethe, Madame Blavatsky, H. G. Wells, Edgar Allan Poe, and Malcolm Lowry.
- Sales Rank: #828814 in eBooks
- Published on: 2009-09-09
- Released on: 2009-09-09
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
"It's a sure thing that anyone with a taste for literary esoterica and magical history will learn something from "A Dark Muse. It's a cavernous grotto full of dark, glittering jewels."
About the Author
Gary Lachman was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, and has lived in London since 1996. He is a full-time writer with more than a dozen books to his name on topics ranging from the evolution of consciousness and the Western esoteric tradition to literature and suicide and the history of popular culture. Lachman writes frequently for journals in the US and UK and lectures on his work in the internationally. His work has been translated into several languages. Mr. Lachman's books include "Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality" (2012); "Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work"(2007); "Jung the Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung s Life and Teachings "(2010); "The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus" (Floris, 2011); and "A Secret History of Consciousness " (Lindisfarne, 2003).
Most helpful customer reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Liminal Lives At The Doors Of Perception
By The Wingchair Critic
Gary Lachman's generally excellent 'A Dark Muse: A History of the Occult' (2003) isn't an actual "history of the occult," as its title claims. Rather, the book is a collection of short essays on both famous and relatively obscure individuals, beginning in 1688 with Emanuel Swedenborg, whose lives were dominated by the metaphysical and the paranormal in some significant manner. Lachman, who excels at contextualizing the broad traditions of Occidental occultism, clearly has a both a great enthusiasm and a sober respect for his subject. The author's insights are often fascinatingly original, such as his belief that [...] is a modern example of "sehnsucht," which Lachman partially translates as "something infinitely desirable just beyond our grasp...horn calls far off in the dark forest, the poignant glow of sunset, which we will never reach, no matter how quickly we race to the horizon, the snow-capped peaks of a distant mountain range."
After the initial chapter on Enlightenment Occultism, which includes Mesmer, Cagliostro, Le Comte de Saint Germain, and Jan Potocki in addition to Swedenborg and others, Lachman hits his stride with penetrating essays on E. T. A. Hoffman, Edger Allen Poe, Charles Baudelaire, and August Strindberg that shed telling light on areas of these writer's lives usually overlooked or ignored by academia.
'A Dark Muse,' which cautiously explores the questionable relationship between 'genius and madness,' also underscores the additional tragedy and suffering that comes to many of those who immerse themselves in the occult, or whose lives are immersed by it.
Depression, nervous collapse, extreme self-consciousness and sensitivity, hallucinations, temporary or permanent insanity, incarceration in mental institutions, syphilis, cancer, and other diseases, poverty, starvation, alcoholism, drug addiction, alienation from friends and family, social ostracism, and suicide or suicide attempts were common elements in the lives of many of those included here, all of whom, with the exception of Madame Blavatsky, are male.
In addition to severe forms of human suffering, early death was also a factor: Novalis died at 28, Rene Daumal at 36, Arthur Rimbaud at 37, Poe at 40, Guy De Maupassant at 42, Gerard de Nerval and Baudelaire at 46, Fernando Pessoa at 47, Malcolm Lowry at 48, and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam at 51. Very few lived long, happy, or successful lives, though Goethe, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Lord Dunsany, H. G. Wells, and Algernon Blackwood, each of whom had problems of their own, were exceptions to the general rule.
Lachman's writing is often persuasive and certainly penetrating. Having quoted De Maupassant's "...I have a softening of the brain...the result of washing out my nasal passages with salt water. A saline fermentation has taken place in my brain, and every night my brain runs out through my nose and mouth in a sticky paste. This is imminent death and I am mad...", Lachman adds, "Remembering the fate of his insane brother, Maupassant tried to kill himself, but botched the job and was saved by his servant. He was driven to s sanatorium in Paris in a straightjacket, and nineteen months later he died, raving, a month short of his forty-third birthday."
Lachman explains why he has chosen those figures who populate "The Modernist Occultist," though it's unfortunate he did not include Hilda Doolittle (1866-1961), since Doolittle not only experienced, wrote about, and avidly studied the occult, but also had a background in Count von Zinzendorf's Moravian Brotherhood, and, in keeping with the potential consequences of occult interaction, suffered several bouts of severe mental instability during her lifetime. It's also difficult to excuse the absence of C. G. Jung, though Lachman presumably left Jung out due to the sheer abundance of material available about him elsewhere. However, Jung fits Lachman's criteria exactly, and of course has had a profound influence on metaphysical thinking and theory.
'A Dark Muse,' which sadly lacks an index, concludes with a brief selection of excepts from the work of Swedenborg, Karl Von Eckarthausen, Madame Blavatsky, Strindberg, P.D. Ouspensky, Poe, Eliphas Levi, and others.
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
A Nightside Literary Romp
By Mark Newbold
Mr. Lachman continues to delight and amaze me with a prodigious mind for western esotericism and a disarming writing style so much like his mentor, Colin Wilson, in that one feels he is there with you discussing these fascinating topics. This is a work that explores the literary history of western occultism and the terminal documents that make up that intellectual history. This work stands in the effort to place before the public the historical reality that the esoteric has been a foundation stone upon which many cultural endeavors have been focused upon, but remain "outside" and unrecognized by many academics and scholars.
The chapter on the pre- revolution Russian occult literary scene is excellent and you will find yourself jotting down titles & authors to further explore. Mr. Lachman's work is the first I can recall that provides a brief but welcome overview of the life of Gustav Meyrink. Meyrink, remains sadly neglected by the English speaking esoteric world. Again, I appreciate Lachman's effort to demonstrate that Swedenborg is the progenitor of much of the western esoteric world view. It is not without noting that D.T. Suzuki called Swedenborg, "the Buddha of the North".
Highly recommended, this is one Muse that will continue to inspire, enlighten, and provoke even after repeated readings.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
A Fascinating History of the Occult.
By New Age of Barbarism
_A Dark Muse: A History of the Occult_, published by Thunder's Mouth Press, by musician and author Gary Lachman is a fascinating history of the central figures who make up the occult movement beginning from the time of the Enlightenment to the modern day. The book especially focuses on artists, poets, and writers who played a significant part in the development of occult ideas or who were otherwise influenced by the occult and occult notions. However, the book also features figures who could be described as belonging to the occult proper. Gary Lachman was a musician who is perhaps best known as one of the founders of the group Blondie. More recently, Lachman has written extensively on occult and esoteric topics, including Ouspensky, consciousness, and the Sixties from a mystical perspective - the fruit of years of occult research. In many respects, Lachman's writings are similar to those of Colin Wilson, who wrote extensively on existentialism and the occult from an anti-materialist perspective.
In the introduction to this book, Lachman begins by defining the occult as meaning "hidden, secret, esoteric, and unknown". He notes that in the popular mind the occult is frequently associated with such strange things as Satanism, witchcraft, tabloid horoscopes, and UFOs. While it is true that these can all be considered as part of the occult, the occult itself is more elusive. Lachman also relates the occult to various ancient beliefs, mystery cults, the Kabbalah, and the Gnostic heresy. In terms of Satanism, Lachman provides evidence of ritual murder in an event which occurred in England. Lachman also notes how the occult has arisen largely in opposition to various aspects of the Enlightenment, including an excessive emphasis on "Reason", a fundamentalist form of materialism, and the idolatry of science in "scientism". Lachman emphasizes that the occult is today understood largely as "rejected knowledge".
Following this, Lachman turns to the role of the occult during the Enlightenment period. He begins by noting the paradox of defining this period as "The Occult Enlightenment", but maintains the prelevance of occult ideas throughout the Enlightenment. Many of these ideas and movements grew in opposition to both the churches and orthodoxy as well as the kind of rationalist materialism found in other Enlightenment thinkers. Lachman then turns to the occultists themselves. He devotes separate sections to the following individuals: Emanuel Swedenborg (the Swedish seer who maintained that he could communicate with the dead and the angels), Mesmer (a Viennese doctor who devised a theory of "mesmerism" and "animal magnetism" and was influential in the discovery on the unconscious), Cagliostro (an Italian Rasputin who was involved in Masonic movements and largely considered to be a political subversive and revolutionary), Le Comte de Saint-Germain (a mysterious figure who recurs in the history of freemasonry, believed to have lived for centuries, though regarded by his enemies as a huckster), Louis Claude de Saint-Martin ("The Unknown Philosopher"; an influential mystic involved in freemason and Christian mysticism, influenced heavily by the mysticism of Jacob Boehme ("The Teutonic Theosopher") and the Kabbalah), Karl von Eckharthausen (a fellow mystic influenced by Saint-Martin, perhaps most famous for writing _The Cloud Upon the Sanctuary_ in which he maintained the reality of a "hidden church", an idea which influenced both Madame Blavatsky and Crowley), William Beckford (an occultist and writer of the _Vathek_ novels), Jacques Cazotte (a famed occultist influenced by Saint-Martin), Jan Potocki (a Polish occultist and writer of _The Sargasso Manuscript_), The Illuminati (the dreaded Masonic organization bent on overturning throne and altar and believed to still be operating behind the scenes), and William Blake (the famed poet influenced heavily by Swedenborg).
The Enlightenment was followed by the Romantic period, in which Enlightenment belief in the rights of the individual was succeeded by individuality itself. Many Romantics were appalled by the excesses of the French Revolution and thus embraced a reactionary quietism with a frequent hankering for nature and a nostalgia for the medieval. Lachman discusses the following figures who represented the occult during the Romantic period: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (the beloved German writer who wrote on suicide and the Faust legend with an interest in Rosicrucianism), Novalis (the pen-name of German Romantic who praised Europe and Christendom and had an infatuation with a young girl), E. T. A. Hoffmann (a German Romantic who wrote ghost stories and weird tales), Edgar Allan Poe (the famous poet, an alcoholic who sought to understand the unconscious, a writer of ghost stories, and an occultist), Honore de Balzac (the famous writer, an agnostic influenced by the occult, Mesmer, and Swedenborg), Gerard de Nerval (an eccentric Bohemian who among other things walked a lobster down the street tied to a ribbon; an extremely mentally unstable individual who was heavily influenced by the occult), Edward Bulwer-Lytton (the Victorian novelist, most famous for his writings on Pompei, ghosts, Rosicrucianism, and as creator of the "Vril"), Eliphas Levi (the famous occultist, writer on magic, socialism, and the French Revolution who praised Catholicism and the Kabbalah), Charles Baudelaire (the blasphemous Satanic poet who was later to convert to Catholicism), Villiers de l'Isle Adam (the Symbolist writer and aristocrat, most famous for his writing _Axel_, heavily influenced by Catholicism, and who led an otherwise miserable life).
Lachman next turns his attention to Satanic occultism, noting the role of Satan in comparative religion, Gnosticism, and the "Black Mass", as well as the role of various instances of poisonings and murders. Lachman describes the Satanic occult activities of the following individuals: Charles Baudelaire (the poet again, a strong believer in the reality of Satan who dabbled in Satanism for a time but eventually converted to Catholicism), Arthur Rimbaud (a disturbed poet who dabbled in homosexuality with Paul Verlaine and frequently wrote of the Devil), J. K. Huysmans (an occultist writer perhaps best known for his description of the "Black Mass" in his novel _La-Bas_, supposedly based on fact), and Valery Briusov (a Russian decadent who dabbled in Satanism).
Following this, Lachman turns his attention to "fin de siecle occultism", noting the influence of Nietzschean ideas, Bergsonianism and "creative evolution", William James, Proust, and Theosophy and the Order of the Golden Dawn. Lachman mentions the following figures who played some role in the fin de siecle occult: Madame Blavatsky (the Russian medium and occultist, as well as the founder of the Theosophical Society), Villiers de l'Isle Adam (again), H. G. Wells (the famous writer and one of the fathers of science fiction as well as an ardent socialist), Algernon Blackwood (the writer of weird tales), Lord Dunsany (the famous writer of weird tales, Nietzschean, and ardent aristocrat), R. M. Bucke (the alienist who developed the idea of the "cosmic consciousness" and an influence on James and Ouspensky), P. D. Ouspensky (the Russian mathematician, occultist, and philosopher known for his researches into the "fourth dimension" and as a promoter of Gurdjieff), Aleister Crowley ("the Great Beast 666", a drug addled madman who dabbled in Satanism and magic), Arthur Machen (writer of the weird tale, perhaps most famous for his novel _The Great God Pan_), Guy de Maupassant (writer of horror stories who became obsessed with his "doppelganger"), August Strindberg (the schizophrenic Swedish playwright who was also influenced by the occult), Gustav Meyrink (the Jewish occultist influenced by the Kabbalah and the legend of the golem), and Andrei Bely (the pen name of a Russian writer influenced by the Anthroposophy of Steiner, Orthodox Christianity, and the Sophiology of Solovyov).
In his last section, Lachman discusses the occult in the modern era making note of the role of the Symbolist movement, James Joyce, and such poets as Pound and Eliot. Lachman discusses the following individuals: Fernando Pessoa (the Portugese modernist poet who developed an interest in the occult and Rosicrucianism), Rene Daumal (the French poet who combined the thoughts of Rene Guenon, pataphysics, and occultism), O. V. de L. Milosz (uncle of the Noble Prize winning poet Czeslaw Milosz and ardent occultist, influenced by Rosicrucianism and the Book of Revelation), and Malcolm Lowry (the novelist most famous for his novel _Under the Volcano_ and influenced by the occult).
The book ends with a selection of texts from various occultists presented in this book.
This book offers a fascinating picture of some of the individuals who played an important role in the development of the occult from the time of the Enlightenment to the modern era. Such occultists offered alternatives to the reigning paradigms in religion and science at the time, as well as challenged the stale materialism which largely reigns in our world today. Their biographies are certainly fascinating reading material and this book is an excellent source for their ideas.
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