This panel brings together scholars working on both novel approaches to long-standing esoteric subjects and entirely new topics for the study of esotericism. Jeanne Halgren Kilde’s paper explores the esoteric inspiration behind Eero Saarinen’s MIT Chapel (1955), demonstrating the efficacy of religious architecture as a methodological starting point for studying esoteric religion and nature-based spirituality. Brendan Jamal Thornton’s paper offers a fresh ethnographic perspective on the role of esoteric texts in contemporary Caribbean religion, providing new insights into the influence of occult literatures on Afro-Caribbean religions. Francesco Piraino’s paper presents an ethnographic investigation into the institutionalization of transgression in contemporary Thelema.
This paper asks why Eero Saarinen, in designing the MIT Chapel (1955), was successful in creating an interfaith chapel that diverse groups found welcoming when earlier attempts to do so had failed. It asserts that Eero’s success was due to his architectural articulation of Theosophical and Transcendental ideas that emphasized spirituality’s universal character and accessibility through nature-based experience. Eero absorbed these ideas from his father Eliel Saarinen, who wrote about Theosophical and Transcendental ideas and incorporated them into his design for Christ Church Lutheran (1949) in Minneapolis. Features of these iconic buildings were imitated by congregations across the U.S., thus normalizing the universalist aesthetic of nature-based spirituality embedded in their design. Exploring this material evidence of the integration of esoteric ideas about nature-based spirituality into American religion and society, this paper demonstrates the efficacy of religious architecture as a methodological starting point for studying esoteric religion and nature-based spirituality.
Aleister Crowley founded Thelema, a religion blending ceremonial magic, Yoga, Tarot, Kabbalah, and sex magic, which became influential in the 1960s counterculture. If Crowley’s ideas regarding morality, sexual experimentation, drugs, and individuality were revolutionary in the 20th century, they are no longer shocking today; rather, they have become part of mainstream Western culture. This ethnographic study, based on fieldwork with the O.T.O. in Salem, Massachusetts, examines the social dimensions of Thelema. It reveals that, contrary to its image of hyper-individualism and antinomianism, Thelema today emphasizes the importance of community, spiritual purification, art, intellectual engagement, and a shared morality. While Thelema was once associated with rebellion and transgression, it has become institutionalized, focusing on inclusivity and progressive values. The paper explores how Thelema has evolved into a structured religious movement with a sense of belonging and shared values.
This paper offers a fresh ethnographic perspective on the role of esoteric texts in contemporary Caribbean religion by exploring the Trinidadian Spiritual Baptist community’s involvement in a creolized form of occult spiritism referred to locally as “Kabbalah.” Seemingly unrelated to the Jewish mystical tradition of the same name, these closed-door ritual practices are supplemental to the faith and are heavily influenced by demonological and occult literatures. Delving into the esoteric reaches of Baptist biblical exegesis and the private unorthodox engagements of my interlocutors, this paper considers the adoption, adaptation, and application of mystical seals and conjurations derived from Waite’s The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts and looks to contribute novel ethnographic insights into the diffuse, albeit unappreciated, influence of occult philosophies and literatures on Spiritual Baptist and other Afro-Caribbean religions.