A leading German theosophical writer, Karl Kiesewetter (1854–95) published several influential works in the years just before his early death. They included a history of modern esotericism (1891), a biography of Mesmer (1893, also reissued in this series), studies of John Dee and of the Faust legend (both 1893), and this two-volume account of occult beliefs and practices in the ancient world (1895), which was completed by Ludwig Kuhlenbeck (1857–1920), a scholar of ancient philosophy and law. Volume 1 focuses on the civilisations of the ancient Near East, including Babylon, Persia, Egypt and Israel, and also contains a chapter on South Asia. Each general description is followed by more detailed investigations of particular aspects of that community, such as individuals (Zoroaster), practices (divination, healing and magic), teachings and texts (the Kabbalah and the Bundehesh), together with textual excerpts (in German translation).
A leading German theosophical writer, Karl Kiesewetter (1854–95) published several influential works in the years just before his early death. They included a history of modern esotericism (1891), a biography of Mesmer (1893, also reissued in this series), studies of John Dee and of the Faust legend (both 1893), and this two-volume account of occult beliefs and practices in the ancient world (1895), which was completed by Ludwig Kuhlenbeck (1857–1920), a scholar of ancient philosophy and law. Volume 2 focuses on the civilisations of the Mediterranean (Greece, Alexandria, Rome) and northern Europe (the Germanic and Celtic peoples). Each general description is followed by more detailed investigations of particular aspects of that community, such as individuals (Socrates, Philo and Pythagoras), practices (divination, healing and oracles), and teachings (gnosticism, Manicheanism and creation, the afterlife), together with textual excerpts (in German translation).
Karl Kiesewetter (1854–1895) was the most influential German theosophical writer of his time, and wrote several books on the history of esotericism and occultism. This biography of Mesmer (1734–1815) was first published in Leipzig in 1893. It begins with two very substantial historical chapters. The first discusses practitioners of 'animal magnetism' before Mesmer, citing evidence dating back to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and Babylonian cuneiform records. The second discusses the history of visions, dreams, trances, soothsaying and divination, referring to the Greeks and the Gnostics. The second half of the book focuses on Mesmer himself. It describes his childhood near Lake Constance, his university education in philosophy and medicine, his medical practice in Vienna and his interest in 'cosmic magnetism'. It documents his treatments and the controversies they caused, his travels, his benefactors and detractors, and ends with a summary of his theories including extracts from his
Karl Kiesewetter (1854–95), an influential German theosophical writer, published this two-volume account of occult beliefs in the ancient world in 1895, with the assistance of Ludwig Kuhlenbeck (1857–
