A Dark Muse: A History of the Occult (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781560256564)

The occult was a crucial influence on the Renaissance, and it obsessed the popular thinkers of the day. But with the Age of Reason, occultism was sidelined; only charlatans found any use for it. Occult ideas did not disappear, however, but rather went underground. It developed into a fruitful source of inspiration for many important artists. Works of brilliance, sometimes even of genius, were produced under its influence. In A Dark Muse, Lachman discusses the Enlightenment obsession with occult politics, the Romantic explosion, the futuristic occultism of the fin de si鐺, and the deep occult roots of the modernist movement. Some of the writers and thinkers featured in this hidden history of western thought and sensibility are Emanuel Swedenborg, Charles Baudelaire, J. K. Huysmans, August Strindberg, William Blake, Goethe, Madame Blavatsky, H. G. Wells, Edgar Allan Poe, and Malcolm Lowry.

Author: Gary Lachman
ISBN-10: 1560256567
ISBN-13: 9781560256564
Publisher: Basic Books
Language: English
Published: 12/29/2004
Pages: 378
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 7.72h x 5.02w x 0.73d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/01/2005 pg. 93