2 hours ago
A Dance with the Occult
What Theosophy reveals about a moment when science and the occult were not so neatly opposed.
By Phillip Bellizzi
"When one looks at the history of alchemy and its gradual evolution into formalized chemistry, it comes as no surprise that science and the occult were significantly entangled, and that even some of history’s champions for scientific thought got caught in a tug-of-war between irrationality and reason. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe Theosophy’s relationship with science as one that flourished during a time of cultural overlap. Theosophy did not produce scientific breakthroughs, but it did offer an arena where scientists could imagine the unseen as investigable and accessible rather than irrational and forbidden. The Theosophists, much like the secret societies that preceded them, gave scientists and other thinkers a space to consider more radical inquiries and think more openly about ways to uncover truths about the world."
https://www.sciencehistory.org/collectio...he-occult/
What Theosophy reveals about a moment when science and the occult were not so neatly opposed.
By Phillip Bellizzi
"When one looks at the history of alchemy and its gradual evolution into formalized chemistry, it comes as no surprise that science and the occult were significantly entangled, and that even some of history’s champions for scientific thought got caught in a tug-of-war between irrationality and reason. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe Theosophy’s relationship with science as one that flourished during a time of cultural overlap. Theosophy did not produce scientific breakthroughs, but it did offer an arena where scientists could imagine the unseen as investigable and accessible rather than irrational and forbidden. The Theosophists, much like the secret societies that preceded them, gave scientists and other thinkers a space to consider more radical inquiries and think more openly about ways to uncover truths about the world."
https://www.sciencehistory.org/collectio...he-occult/