The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern Book

The Place of Enchantment deals with the period between 1880 and 1914; the crucial years during which Britain emerged as an identifiable modern nation. On the background of the political, social, cultural and economical changes, this book explores the "disenchantment" of the world along with the emergence of the new occultism also known as new spirituality at the fin-de-siècle. However, apart from giving a broad description of the esoteric practices and arising spiritualities of the period, it helps in getting a deep glance into the modernisation of the occultism as an articulation of the diverse and ambiguous processes through the prospering cultural modernity in Britain. The detailed information about the activities of the occult institutions like The Theosophical Society, Society of Psychical Research, Hermetic Order, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, etc., establishes the preview of the period's main mystery and hierarchical organisations dealing with occult. The members of these institutions were the influential trendsetters of the spiritual movement in the society and able to attract not only intellectuals but also feminists and working class and thus accommodating their realisation as individuals. The mystical revival is also being reviewed as a period's response to the ongoing crisis in the socio-political life of the society.