From rumors about gnostic orgies in antiquity to the explicit erotic symbolism of alchemical texts, from the subtly coded eroticism of medieval kabbalah to the sexual magic practiced by contemporary occultists and countercultural translations of Asian Tantra, the history of Western esotericism is rich in references to the domains of eros and sexuality. This volume, which brings together an impressive array of top-level specialists, is the first to analyze the eroticism of the esoteric without sensationalism or cheap generalizations, but on the basis of expert scholarship and attention to textual and historical detail. While there are few domains where the imagination may so easily run wild, the various contributions seek to distinguish fact from fiction-only to find that historical realities are sometimes even stranger than the fantasies. In doing so, they reveal the outlines of a largely unknown history spanning more than twenty centuries.

About the Author
Wouter J. Hanegraaff (Author)
Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, and a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among his many publications is the two-volume Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism.
Jeffrey J. Kripal (Author)
Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University and is the associate director of the Center for Theory and Research at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. He is the author of seven books, including: Comparing Religions: Coming to Terms (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014); Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred (Chicago, 2010); and Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion (Chicago, 2007). Jeff is a historian of religions who specializes in the comparison of extreme religious experiences and anomalous events across space and time.


Reviews
"A collection of essays addressing a doubly fascinating topic, namely, the intersection of the erotic and the esoteric in western culture from ancient Greece to contemporary California--where "west" meets "east," as the American counterculture supplements its already eclectic garb with the mantle of a refashioned Asian Tantra." -- -Virginia Burrus Drew University "Hidden Intercourse is a book that turns people's heads around, so that they can never think of sex the same way again." -- -Joscelyn Godwin Colgate University "A thoughtful, well-written, and extremely wide-ranging text that examines the crucial role of eros/sexuality in the western esoteric tradition." -- -G. William Barnard Southern Methodist University



Book Information
ISBN 9780823233410
Author Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Format Paperback
Page Count 568
Imprint Fordham University Press
Publisher Fordham University Press