New discussion group on Facebook

With the aim of promoting the study of Hermetism, Western Esotericism, and related currents, Iván Elvira has created a new discussion group on Facebook, called Studia Hermetica like the website www.revistaazogue.com/hermetica.

If you want to participate, you have to create a Facebook account, and send Iván Elvira a message with your request. The languages of this new discussion group are Spanish, English and French. The discussion group is aimed at students and enthusiasts of Hermetism and Esoteric thought. The questions that will be dealt with are wide, and nothing will be avoided. People who profess a Hermetic or Esoteric belief are welcome, but are warned that "Studia Hermetica" is an academic discussion group. Bibliographical references and a correct way of expression are obligatory.

ESSWE PhD Thesis Prize

Nominations are invited for the first biennial ESSWE PhD Thesis prize, awarded by the board of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism. The prize will be given for an outstanding European PhD thesis completed between 1 January 2007 and 1 March 2009 on any aspect of Western Esotericism (broadly conceived). The thesis may be European in the sense of having been submitted at a university in Europe, or in the sense of having been submitted by a European citizen at a university anywhere in the world. The thesis must have been approved formally by the nominee's thesis committee, but the degree need not have been formally awarded.

The prizewinner will be notified in May 2009 and will receive an award of €500 and a certificate, to be presented at the ESSWE conference in Strasbourg, 2-4 July 2009. The thesis will also be recommended for publication in the ARIES Book Series, though the final decision on publication will be taken by the ARIES Book Series editorial board, not the Prize Committee. If it deems that no thesis reaches an appropriate standard, the Prize Committee will not award a prize.

Nominations must be made by electronic mail to the Chair of the Prize Committee, Mark Sedgwick (Aarhus University, Denmark, mjs@teo.au.dk) by 1 March 2009. The nominator must be a faculty member at the institution that awards the nominee’s PhD degree, or a member of the nominee’s thesis committee. Each nominator may make only one nomination. The applications should consist of pdf files of the following material:

1. A letter of nomination
2. The nominee's thesis
3. A separate summary of the thesis, written by the nominee, of no more than ten pages (double spaced)
4. A brief biographical sketch of the nominee
5. Documentation to show that the thesis has been approved

Items 1, 3 and 4 must be in English. Item 2 may be in any one of the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. Item 5 may be in any language, so long as a translation into English is provided if it is not in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish.

The Prize Committee consists of:

• Mark Sedgwick, Aarhus (Chair)
• Andreas Kilcher, Zurich
• Jean-Pierre Brach, Paris

New MA at the University of Kent

New MA in the Cultural Study of Cosmology and Divination at the University of Kent

The study of contemporary astrology and the interpretation of astrological symbolism form a central part of this MA programme which involves taught and research elements, including four modules, a learning journal and a dissertation. It may be taken full-time (1 year) or part-time/modular (2+years).

Core modules on Thursdays, optionals Wednesdays or Fridays. Modules are:

• Interpreting the Heavens: theories and methods (core)
• The Imaginal Cosmos: interpreting symbolic texts & images (core)
• Cosmology and the Arts (optional)
• The Intelligible Cosmos (optional)
• Nature, Culture and Religion (optional)

Themes include Egypt & alchemy, I Ching & Chinese philosophy, Renaissance astrology & magic, literature, art, music & cosmos, enchantment, tarot and the divinatory narrative.

For further information, contact Dr Angela Voss (director).

More from the EPHE...

The following are preparing theses for the diplome of the EPHE :

• B. Barret, « L. Lenain et sa ‘Science Cabalistique’ (1823). Sa vie et son œuvre magique d’après des inédits ».
• D. Clairembault, « La correspondance de Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin et Nicolas-Antoine Kirchberger (éd. crit. d’après les ms.) - Esotérisme et théosophie sous la Révolution ».
• J. Iozia, « C. Jinarajadasa : sa vie, son oeuvre au sein de la Société Théosophique (1902-1953).
• M. Kreçmar, « Edition et commentaire de la ‘Lettre hiéroglyphique’ de F. Barent Coenders van Helpen (1683 ; ms. Lyon) ».

New theses at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Three new theses were started at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris, Sorbonne) in 2006-07:

• B. Bérard, "Un philosophe et théologien occultisant au XIX° siècle : l’abbé P.-F.-G. Lacuria (1806-90)."


• F. Buzzeta, "Aspects de la Magia naturalis et de la Cabala practica dans les premières œuvres de J. Pic de la Mirandole (avec éd. & trad. de sources hébraïques)" (co-directed with Professor G. Palumbo, University of Palermo).


• S. Salzani, "Histoire, thématiques et enjeux critiques d’une lecture « ésotérique » de Dante: l’oeuvre de Luigi Valli (1878 -1931) et ses continuateurs " (co-directed with Professor A. Cavarero, University of Verona).

Five theses started between 2003 and 2005 are still in progress:

• F. Baroni, "Tommaso Palamidessi (1915-1983) et son école initiatique ‘archeosophica’ : recherches sur l’ésotérisme chrétien dans l’Italie contemporaine (thématiques, sociabilité)."


• J.-C. Boucly, "Magnétisme, mystique et ésotérisme chrétiens chez quelques disciples de N.-A. Philippe (1849-1905)."


• D. Jardin, "La construction d'une "tradition" maçonnique au XVIII° siècle : emprunts «opératifs», religieux et ésotériques dans les rituels et l'iconographie des Tableaux de Loge des systèmes français à ‘hauts-grades’" (co-directed with Professor P.-Y. Beaurepaire, University of Nice).


• B. Barthet, "Les jésuites et les principaux courants ésotériques en France (1680-1750) : problématiques et enjeux."


• E. Kreis, "Occultisme, antijudaïsme et antimaçonnisme en France, 1864 – 1939 : les enjeux d'un amalgame idéologique."
  

Student networks

As well as this blog, two discussion groups or ‘virtual hangouts’ have been created this year that are relevant to our field, on the website http://www.facebook.com/.

• One is a group for students and former students of the MA Mysticism and Western Esotericism in Amsterdam (Western Esotericism MA).
• The other, playfully called The Grand Lodge, is for scholars of Western Esotericism more generally, excluding university teachers and professors (for reasons of social ease and liberty of speech).

Both groups are accessible through facebook friends.

Those interested in joining one of the groups must have or create a facebook account. Then they can send a friend request to someone who is already a member, such as Ward (Eduard) ten Houten or myself, including a brief message stating they would like to join the particular group. You can find us in the facebook search engine under our full names.

Joyce Pijnenburg