Supplementing “Bitter Winter” series on Freemasonry, a look at an organization about which little is known outside the United States,
Featured Global
Emil Bisttram: Between Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and Prophecy
The Hungarian-born American painter was an important figure in several esoteric societies, and produced works that he believed were “portals” to enter the New Age.
Irma Plavatsky, Sâr Dubnotal, Fascinax: Rosicrucianism and Dime Novels
Before the comics, there were the dime novels of the Belle Époque. Rosicrucians, Theosophists, and occultists were among their most memorable characters.
Ilona Harima: A Brilliant Finnish Theosophical Painter
Her membership in the Theosophical Society is crucial to understand the artist’s themes and idiosyncratic style.
Ardhanarishvara: The Hindu Perfection of the Androgyne
An exquisite 11th-century sculpture in the Chennai Bronze Gallery epitomizes the universal aspiration to the restoration of an original androgynous status.
Modern Vietnamese Painters in Paris: An Art Full of Spirits
Lê Phô, Mai Thứ, and Vũ Cao Đàm lived in France and learned French artistic techniques but never forgot the Buddhas and spirits of Vietnam’s tradition.
The Enigmas of Picasso’s “Crucifixion”
A great and difficult work, it has been called “a blind spot in Picasso scholarship.” What does it really have to do with religion?
Is Turin Really “the City of Magic”? 4. The Legend of the “City of the Devil”
The legend of Turin as the “city of the Devil” derives from nineteenth-century memories but also from a goliardic prank of the late 1960s.
Is Turin Really “the City of Magic”? 3. The Waldensian Myth and the Alternatives to Catholicism
Although it has nothing to do with magic, the 19th-century tolerance for religions other than the Catholic Church in Turin helped create the myth of the “capital of alternative spiritualities”
Is Turin Really “the City of Magic”? 2. Spirits in Turin
In the 19th century, Turin was conquered—for a time, more than other Italian cities—by the fashion for spiritualism.