inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am touchâd from,
The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer,
This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds.
Between 1875 and 1900, American religion struggled to deal with urbanization, industrialization, immigration, and the depredations of science on traditional faith verities. At the same time, Americans were hearing about religions outside the Judeo-Christian tradition,something that hadnât happened before in a widespread way. The Transcendentalist writer James Freeman Clarke published a book called Ten Great Religions that went through twenty-one printings. In 1892 the World Parliament of Religions attracted 150,000 visitors to exhibits about the worldâs religions. These religions introduced magical concepts that had been quelled within orthodox Christian circles, encouraged dissent from orthodox Christian views, and helped people look within themselves for answers.
Historian Arthur Schlesinger labeled this time âthe critical point in American religion.â Liberals and conservatives split, as they have today, and people who considered themselves spiritual but not religious could be seen as a definite group for the first time. Philosopher and psychologist William James was among them. James dabbled in occult matters and was convinced that human consciousness has continuity with a wider spiritual universe. The ideas of philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Schelling also influenced those who rejected Christianity and tilted toward a magical worldview. During this same time, Spiritualism, the religion founded on the idea that the dead can be contacted, was catching on all over the United States and Europe. One Catholic group estimated their numbers at 11 millionâan overestimate probably, but an indication of how big the movement seemed.
On the eve of the twentieth century, as many as 40 percent of American men were involved in fraternal organizations, mostly Masonic, that constructed and performed elaborate mystical ceremonies. A group of Freemasons called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn formed in Britain to recast Masonic ceremonies into magical workings. Among their members were upper-class, well-educated Brits. The poet William Butler Yeats was one of them.
The American fin de siècle surge of magical practice came forth in a variety of ways. Anton Messmerâs practice of animal magnetismto heal people was spreading. Paschal Beverly Randolph, a free man of color, taught and wrote about magic techniques that included sex magic. And Madame Helen Blavatsky, who believed she was being directed by mahatmas who had lived in Tibet, founded her Theosophical Society in New York in 1875. Her Isis Unveiled is still in print, and at 500,000 copies still selling.
In the common culture, magic also flourished. When treasure hunting swept the country in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, magicians, conjurers, fortune-tellers, and clairvoyants were often asked to consult peep-stones, which were crystals placed inside the seerâs hat. The clairvoyant would put his face into the hat and sometimes stay that way for hours before emerging with a message. Almost every New England town still had a witch or wizard. The owners of trading ships often consulted astrologers or fortune-tellers before setting sail. Countermagic was also commonly employed. If cream refused to thicken, a hot rod thrust into the churn was thought to undo the bewitchment by burning the witch. Witch bottles filled with urine and heated in a pan were used to hex those who had placed spells on others.
Â
W hen I was a child, I didnât know anyone who lived by signs and omens. I never heard a single person call upon angels for a parking place. Nobody talked of encountering spirits of the dead. Nobody looked for meaning in coincidental events. Nobody talked about what they were meant to do, meaning meant by the
The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer,
This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds.
Between 1875 and 1900, American religion struggled to deal with urbanization, industrialization, immigration, and the depredations of science on traditional faith verities. At the same time, Americans were hearing about religions outside the Judeo-Christian tradition,something that hadnât happened before in a widespread way. The Transcendentalist writer James Freeman Clarke published a book called Ten Great Religions that went through twenty-one printings. In 1892 the World Parliament of Religions attracted 150,000 visitors to exhibits about the worldâs religions. These religions introduced magical concepts that had been quelled within orthodox Christian circles, encouraged dissent from orthodox Christian views, and helped people look within themselves for answers.
Historian Arthur Schlesinger labeled this time âthe critical point in American religion.â Liberals and conservatives split, as they have today, and people who considered themselves spiritual but not religious could be seen as a definite group for the first time. Philosopher and psychologist William James was among them. James dabbled in occult matters and was convinced that human consciousness has continuity with a wider spiritual universe. The ideas of philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Schelling also influenced those who rejected Christianity and tilted toward a magical worldview. During this same time, Spiritualism, the religion founded on the idea that the dead can be contacted, was catching on all over the United States and Europe. One Catholic group estimated their numbers at 11 millionâan overestimate probably, but an indication of how big the movement seemed.
On the eve of the twentieth century, as many as 40 percent of American men were involved in fraternal organizations, mostly Masonic, that constructed and performed elaborate mystical ceremonies. A group of Freemasons called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn formed in Britain to recast Masonic ceremonies into magical workings. Among their members were upper-class, well-educated Brits. The poet William Butler Yeats was one of them.
The American fin de siècle surge of magical practice came forth in a variety of ways. Anton Messmerâs practice of animal magnetismto heal people was spreading. Paschal Beverly Randolph, a free man of color, taught and wrote about magic techniques that included sex magic. And Madame Helen Blavatsky, who believed she was being directed by mahatmas who had lived in Tibet, founded her Theosophical Society in New York in 1875. Her Isis Unveiled is still in print, and at 500,000 copies still selling.
In the common culture, magic also flourished. When treasure hunting swept the country in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, magicians, conjurers, fortune-tellers, and clairvoyants were often asked to consult peep-stones, which were crystals placed inside the seerâs hat. The clairvoyant would put his face into the hat and sometimes stay that way for hours before emerging with a message. Almost every New England town still had a witch or wizard. The owners of trading ships often consulted astrologers or fortune-tellers before setting sail. Countermagic was also commonly employed. If cream refused to thicken, a hot rod thrust into the churn was thought to undo the bewitchment by burning the witch. Witch bottles filled with urine and heated in a pan were used to hex those who had placed spells on others.
Â
W hen I was a child, I didnât know anyone who lived by signs and omens. I never heard a single person call upon angels for a parking place. Nobody talked of encountering spirits of the dead. Nobody looked for meaning in coincidental events. Nobody talked about what they were meant to do, meaning meant by the
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