Western Esotericism – Ten-week Course (1)

Western Esoteric Traditions

Ten-week course – Dr Christian Giudice

Learn the rich history of esoteric movements: Renaissance planetary magic, Elizabethan angel magic, alchemy, freemasonry, Rosicrucians, spiritualism, The Order of the Golden Dawn, Thelema, Wicca and more. The arts which form the West’s occult knowledge are joined in a lineage of ideas, and this ten-week course leads you through through it, century by century from the Renaissance up to the present, familiarising you with the key figures and subjects. You will meet John Dee’s angels, Aleister Crowley’s Scarlet Woman, Madame Blavatsky’s Hidden Masters and many more– and you will have read original writings and discussed them all in a friendly group setting.

The history-based course has been taught in the past at University of Exeter and University of Gothenburg; it has never before been offered outside of an academic institution. There will be weekly illustrated lectures and seminar discussions, with readings of primary source texts. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke’s Western Esoteric Traditions will be the text book.

The course is taught by Dr Christian Giudice, who is friendly, engaging — and a specialist in the subject. Chris obtained his PhD at the University of Gothenburg, where he has taught this course. There are primary source readings provided weekly, with the course following a guiding textbook. Class size is deliberately small to ensure group camaraderie and allow individual support.

All are welcome to register for the class here at Treadwells, with no previous background or expertise required, but a commitment to reading and attendance is required. The course will meet from 9 October to 11 December on Tuesday evenings, 7 pm to 9.10 pm. You are welcome to Christina at Treadwells if you have any questions or if you wish to receive a course outline in advance.

Dr Christian Giudice’s BA is from Oxford and his MA is in Western Esotericism from Exeter. An active scholar, his research focusses on twentieth century occultism, especially the interaction between visual arts and occultism. His publications include Female Leaders in New Religious Movements, co-edited with Inga Bårdsen Tollefsen (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) and the upcoming Occult Imperium: Arturo Reghini and the Antimodern Reaction in Early XX Century Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2019). Between his BA and MA, Chris worked for seven years at MTV in video making, film editing and screenwriting.

Price: £265. Deposit £140. Balance of £125 due on the first night