{{Multiple issues| {{primary sources|date=June 2020}} {{notability|date=June 2020}} {{more citations needed|date=June 2020}} }} {{Short description|Scholarly society in Europe}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} The '''European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism''' ('''ESSWE''') is Europe's only scholarly society for the study of Western esotericism. Founded in 2002, the society promotes academic study of Western esotericism in its various manifestations from late antiquity to the present, and works to secure the future development of the field.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Faivre|first=Antoine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvZ-bEz_450C|title=L'Ésotérisme|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4384-3379-0|location=Albany|pages=18|language=en|translator-last=Rhone|translator-first=Christine|trans-title=Western Esotericism: A Concise History|orig-year=1992}}</ref>
== Publications == The peer-reviewed journal ''Aries'', and the associated Aries book series are published by Brill under the auspices of the ESSWE.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Aries Book Series|url=https://brill.com/view/serial/ARBS|access-date=2020-06-20|website=brill|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Aries|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/arie/arie-overview.xml|access-date=2020-06-20|website=brill|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Magee |first=Glenn Alexander |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cambridge_Handbook_of_Western_Mystic/7mfiCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Journal+for+the+Study+of+Western+Esotericism%22&pg=PT15&printsec=frontcover |title=The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism |date=2016-04-18 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-67935-7 |language=en}}</ref> ''Aries'' was published in a first series by La Table d'Emeraude from 1985 to 1999, before a second series began to be published by Brill in 2001. The Aries book series was launched in 2006.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hanegraaff |first=Wouter J. |author-link=Wouter Hanegraaff |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khaNd720XQMC&pg=PA159 |title=Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |pages=159–160 |isbn=978-1-4411-8713-0 }}</ref> The society also publishes a periodic ''Newsletter''.
Between 2016 and 2018, the ESSWE funded the hosting and database costs of the journal ''Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://correspondencesjournal.com/about/ |title=About |publisher=Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism }}</ref>
== International conferences == The ESSWE holds an international conference in a different European country every two years, and holds a workshop for graduate students in years in which there is no conference. Past conferences have been in Tübingen (2007), Strasbourg and Messina (2009), Szeged (2011), Gothenburg (2013), Riga (2015), Erfurt (2017), and Amsterdam (2019).<ref>{{Cite web|title=ESSWE - European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism|url=https://www.esswe.org/Past|access-date=2020-06-20|website=www.esswe.org|language=en}}</ref>
1st: July 2007, University of Tübingen, "Constructing Tradition: Means and Myths of Transmission in Western Esotericism."
2nd: July 2009, University of Strasbourg, "Capitals of European Esotericism and Transcultural Dialogue."
3rd: July 2011, University of Szeged, "Lux in Tenebris: The Visual and the Symbolic in Western Esotericism"
4th: June 2013, University of Gothenburg, "Western Esotericism and Health."
5th: April 2015, University of Latvia, "Western Esotericism and the East."
6th: June 2017, University of Erfurt, "Western Esotericism and Deviance."
7th: July 2019, University of Amsterdam, "Western Esotericism and Consciousness: Visions, Voices, Altered States."
== Other activities == The ESSWE provides various resources on its website, awards prizes and travel bursaries to recognize and encourage younger scholars. It has three regional networks, the Scandinavian Network for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism (SNASWE), the Israeli Network for the Study of Western Esotericsm (INASWE), and the Irish Network for the Study of Esotericism and Paganism (INSEP) and two thematic research networks, the Contemporary Esotericism Research Network (ContERN) and the ESSWE Network for the Study of Esotericism in Antiquity (NSEA).{{fact|date=August 2022}}
== Relationships == The ESSWE is an affiliated society of the Project AWE (Aesthetics of Western Esotericism), International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), and a related scholarly organization of the American Academy of Religion (AAR).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.esswe.org/page-18088|title=ESSWE - European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism|website=www.esswe.org}}</ref>
In 2014, a related Central and Eastern European Network for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism (CEENASWE) was founded at the Central European University, Budapest.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Szönyi|first=György E.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRi3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10|title=Studies on Western Esotericism in Central and Eastern Europe|publisher=JATEPress Kiadó|year=2019|isbn=978-963-315-397-0|editor-last=Radulović|editor-first=Nemanja|series=Studies in Cultural Iconology 1|pages=10|language=en|chapter=Introduction|editor-last2=Hess|editor-first2=Karolina Maria}}</ref>
== Current officers == *President: Andreas Kilcher (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland) *Vice President: Boaz Huss (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel) *Secretary: Mark Sedgwick (University of Aarhus, Denmark) *Treasurer and Membership Secretary: Egil Asprem (Stockholm University, Sweden) *Webmaster: Peter J. Forshaw (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) *Henrik Bogdan (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) *Jean-Pierre Brach (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne, Paris, France) *Wouter J. Hanegraaff (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) *Birgit Menzel (Universität Mainz, Germany) *Sophie Page (University College, London) *Marco Pasi (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) *György E. Szőnyi (University of Szeged, Hungary) *Helmut Zander (Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany)
== Notable past officers == *Antoine Faivre (University of the Sorbonne, France) *Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (University of Exeter, UK)
== Further reading == * Gregory D. Alles. Religious studies: a global view. USA & Canada: Routledge, 2008. * Kripal J.J., Hanegraaff W.J. Introduction: things we don't talk about // Kripal J. J., Hanegraaff W.J. (eds.) Hidden intercourse. Eros and sexuality in the history of Western Esotericism. Leiden & Brill, 2008.
== Bibliography ==
=== ''Aries Book Series: Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism'' ===
* {{Cite book|last=Poller, Jake|title=Aldous Huxley and alternative spirituality|isbn=978-90-04-40690-2|location=Leiden|oclc=1122822112|publisher=Brill|year=2019|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 27}} *{{Cite book|title=De tribus principiis, oder Beschreibung der Drey Principien Göttliches Wesens: Of the Three Principles of Divine Being, 1619, by Jacob Boehme|isbn=978-90-04-39527-5|location=Leiden|oclc=1090800283|last1=Weeks|first1=Andrew|publisher=Brill|year=2019|first2=Leigh|last2=Penman|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 26}} *{{Cite book|title=Jacob Böhme and his world|isbn=978-90-04-38509-2|location=Brill|oclc=1057741122|publisher=Brill|year=2018|editor-last=Andersson|editor-first3=Leigh|editor-first=Bo|editor-first2=Lucinda|editor-last2=Martin|editor-last3=Penman|editor-first4=Andrew|editor-last4=Weeks|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 25}} *{{Cite book|last=Roukema, Aren|title=Esotericism and narrative: the occult fiction of Charles Williams|isbn=978-90-04-36911-5|location=Leiden|oclc=1043913882|publisher=Brill|year=2018|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 24}} *{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNOYDQAAQBAJ|title=Lux in Tenebris: the Visual and the Symbolic in Western Esotericism|publisher=Brill|year=2016|isbn=978-90-04-33495-3|editor-last=Forshaw|editor-first=Peter J.|location=Leiden|oclc=961266854|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 23}} *{{Cite book|last=Meir|title=Kabbalistic circles in Jerusalem (1896-1948)|isbn=978-90-04-32164-9|location=Leiden|oclc=952227048|first=Jonatan|publisher=Brill|year=2016|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 22}} *{{Cite book|last=Introvigne|title=Satanism: a social history|isbn=978-90-04-24496-2|location=Leiden|oclc=951833458|first=Massimo|publisher=Brill|year=2016|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 21}} *{{Cite book|last=Petsche|title=Gurdjieff and music: the Gurdjieff/de Hartmann piano music and its esoteric significance|isbn=978-90-04-28444-9|location=Leiden|oclc=903489112|first=Johanna J. M.|publisher=Brill|year=2015|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 20}} *{{Cite book|title=Esotericism in African American religious experience: "there is a mystery" ...|isbn=978-90-04-28342-8|location=Boston|oclc=895256983|publisher=Brill|editor-last=Finley|editor-first=Stephen|editor-last2=Guillory|editor-first2=Margarita|editor-last3=Page (Jr.)|editor-first3=Hugh|year=2014|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 19}} *{{Cite book|last=Granholm|title=Dark enlightenment: the historical, sociological, and discursive contexts of contemporary esoteric magic|isbn=978-90-04-27487-7|location=Boston|oclc=886942426|first=Kennet|publisher=Brill|year=2016|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 18}} *{{Cite book|last=Staudenmaier|title=Between occultism and Nazism: anthroposophy and the politics of race in the fascist era|isbn=978-90-04-27015-2|location=Leiden|oclc=878108930|first=Peter|publisher=Brill|year=2014|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 17}} *{{Cite book|last=Böhme, Jakob, 1575-1624.|title=Aurora (Morgen Röte im auffgang, 1612) and ein grundlicher Bericht or a fundamental report (mysterium pansophicum, 1620)|isbn=978-90-04-22568-8|location=Leiden|oclc=874838531|publisher=Brill|year=2013|editor-last=Weeks|editor-first=Andrew|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 16}} *{{Cite book|title=Francis Mercury van Helmont's "Sketch of Christian Kabbalism"|date=2012|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-22724-8|location=Leiden|oclc=795120525|editor-last=Spector|editor-first=Sheila A.|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 15}} *{{Cite book|last=Collis|title=The Petrine instauration: religion, esotericism and science at the court of Peter the Great, 1689-1725|date=2012|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-22439-1|location=Leiden|oclc=773799270|first=Robert|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 14}} *{{Cite book|last=Snoek|title=Initiating women in Freemasonry: the adoption rite|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-21934-2|location=Leiden|oclc=769927262|first=Joannes Augustinus Maria|year=2011|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 13}} *{{Cite book|last=Fletcher|title=A study of the life and works of Athanasius Kircher, "Germanus incredibilis": with a selection of his unpublished correspondence and an annotated translation of his autobiography|date=2011|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-21632-7|location=Leiden|oclc=763156013|first=John Edward.|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 12}} *{{Cite book|title=Constructing tradition: means and myths of transmission in Western esotericism|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-21637-2|location=Leiden|oclc=741613214|last=Kilcher|first=Andreas|year=2010|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 11}} *{{Cite book|title=Kabbalah and modernity: interpretations, transformations, adaptations|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-18287-5|location=Leiden|oclc=695990132|year=2010|editor-last=Huss|editor-first=Boaz|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 10}} *{{Cite book|title=Music and esotericism|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-18279-0|location=Leiden|oclc=695988825|year=2010|editor-last=Wuidar|editor-first=Laurence|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 9}} *{{Cite book|last1=Heidle|first1=Alexandra|title=Women's agency and rituals in mixed and female Masonic orders|date=2008|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-474-2586-1|location=Leiden|oclc=593295789|last2=Snoek|first2=Joannes Augustinus Maria|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 8}} *{{Cite book|last1=Hanegraaff|first1=Wouter J.|title=Hidden intercourse: eros and sexuality in the history of Western esotericism|publisher=Brill|year=2008|isbn=978-90-474-4358-2|location=Leiden|oclc=606928952|last2=Kripal|first2=Jeffrey J.|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 7}} *{{Cite book|title=Polemical encounters: esoteric discourse and its others|publisher=Brill|year=2007|isbn=978-90-474-3151-0|location=Leiden|oclc=592756287|last1=Hammer|first1=Olav|author1-link=Olav Hammer|last2=Stuckrad|first2=Kocku von|author2-link=Kocku von Stuckrad|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 6}} *{{Cite book|title=Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493-1541): essential theoretical writings|publisher=Brill|year=2008|isbn=978-90-474-2341-6|location=Leiden|oclc=304398304|last=Weeks|first=Andrew|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 5}} *{{Cite book|last=Geffarth, Renko D.|title=Religion und arkane Hierarchie: der Orden der Gold- und Rosenkreuzer als geheime Kirche im 18. Jahrhundert|date=2007|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-474-1951-8|location=Leiden|oclc=306693917|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 4}} *{{Cite book|last=Helmont|first=Franciscus Mercurius van, 1614-1699.|title=The alphabet of nature|date=2007|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-474-1998-3|editor-last=Coudert|editor-first=Allison P.|location=Leiden|oclc=505105226|editor-last2=Corse|editor-first2=Taylor|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 3}} *{{Cite book|last=Barnes, Katherine.|title=The higher self in Christopher Brennan's Poems: esotericism, romanticism, symbolism|date=2006|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-474-1007-2|location=Leiden|oclc=614537868|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 2}} *{{Cite book|last=Szulakowska|first=Urszula|title=The sacrificial body and the day of doom: alchemy and apocalyptic discourse in the Protestant Reformation|date=2006|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-1-4356-5759-5|location=Leiden|oclc=319492616|series=Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism 1}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.esswe.org/}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110912073919/http://www.brill.nl/aries Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism] *[http://contern.org/ ContERN website]
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Category:Religious studies Category:Learned societies