The multiple weavings of eroticism and esotericism within the history of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California the mother of the American human potential movement founded in 1962 by Michael Murphy (1930) and Richard Price (1930-1985) is a vast half-century tapestr...

This chapter offers a brief overview of the problems related to Le Clement's role in the history of sexual magic. It indicates that several authors have hinted at the importance of Le Clement's role in the history of sexual magic. The chapter also focuses on the influen...

This chapter examines Tantra's complex journey to the West in the nineteenth century through one of the most important esoteric groups of this era, the Ordo Templi Orientis(O.T.O). Founded by Theodor Reuss in the early twentieth century, the O.T.O. was not only one of t...

Throughout western history knowledge has been conceived of as a commodity controlled and rationed by those in authority. When it came to knowledge in general, however, there was more at stake for women than curiosity and the dangers of impiety. The purpose of this chapt...