Pacifist and Public Esotericism(s)

This panel challenges commonly held notions of esotericism as a necessarily elite, exclusive, or even private form of religious practice. The authors examine a diverse range of examples of esoteric religious practice as an artistic, activist, and thoroughly public form of religious expression. From pacificist American poetry, to the integration of Swedish Spiritualism and Christianity, to popular comic book as a form of esoteric art, these papers show how modern esotericism has been a socially engaged and vividly public form of religious belief and practice. 

The first paper examines the work of American poet Kenneth Patchen, the vision of humanity as a fundamentally unified and interconnected spiritual identity predominates. Concomitant with this is the implication that violence toward any person become necessarily violence done to oneself. From this vision emerges an pacifist commitment to nonviolence, even under the most extreme circumstances. This conviction permeates his Blake-inspired 1941 work *The Journal of Albion Moonlight,* written in response to the breakout of the World War II, and with the explicit intention of combatting it through poetic expression. While many rallied to support the Allies, Patchen saw the war as indicative of a form of human insanity and the loss of spiritual vision. Patchen’s poetic vision represents a challenge to even the most seemingly justified uses of violence, arguing that such force can never be a victory, but only a degradation of humanity and a scar on its own collective body.

The second paper explores the modern Spiritualist movement in Sweden during the first half of the twentieth century, focusing on the relationship between Spiritualism and Christianity. Spiritualists often sought to reconcile their beliefs with the Bible, while critiquing what they perceived as the dogmatism of the church. To illustrate the connection between Spiritualism, Christianity, and pacifism, the focus is put on the Swedish clergyman and radical pacifist Johannes Uddin, who was influenced by the thriving Spiritualist movement in Britain during the First World War. Despite his turn to the occult, Uddin remained a vicar in the Church of Sweden. The paper aims to create a better understanding of the relationship between Christianity and Spiritualism in Northern Europe, focusing on Uddin’s radical pacifism and the Church of Sweden’s response to his Spiritualist beliefs.

The third and final paper describes the artworks of Alan Moore and David B., who share a common interest in esotericism: they have participated in esoteric groups, and in their artistic works they reproduce esoteric symbols and doctrines. Scholars have described the connections between contemporary art and esotericism – the occulture - arguing that artists participate in the commodification of esotericism and are “spiritual seekers” who represent their spiritual quest. This paper goes beyond such a perspective by describing how esotericism has changed in contemporary societies. Esotericism is generally understood as a “rejected”, “absolute”, and “stigmatized” form of knowledge, characterized by elitism and secrecy. The esotericism of these on the contrary became mainstream. Furthermore, it is not “absolute/hidden”; rather, it reveals doubt and deconstructs religion and spirituality, sometimes even challenging or mocking them. For these artists, esotericism is a form of “unsettled knowledge”, a never-ending quest on the transcendence, the unconscious and humankind.