Mitch Horowitz

This was quite interesting. It is what the title says -- a look at occult movements thoughout America's history. It's curious how most of European occultism was focused on secrecy, whereas the bulk of American mysticism has been about getting the word to John Q. Public so he too can be enlightened. Kind of neat.

There are lots of interesting little tidbits in this. For example, I knew a little about the Theosophical Society of the mid-1800s, but I didn't know that its founders helped save native languages and cultures in India and Sri Lanka when those areas were being invaded by Western missionaries. The book is full of ripple effects like these. Did you know spiritual movements in America led to citizens' current obsessions with being obsessed with getting wealthy? Great stuff.

I definitely recommend this. It's a scholarly work that doesn't take sides -- it's not an ode to the occult, but it's not against it either. It's academic, but written in an easy and readable style. Great fun.… (meer)