Illuminism

The Illuminism was an intellectual and spiritual flow in the 18th and early 19th centuries in Europe. In terms of the history of ideas and literature , it is related to Romanticism . Many of its representatives are also assigned to classical theosophy . In contrast to the Enlightenment , reason included a spiritual dimension for the Illuminists .

The illuminists dealt with ancient teachings such as Kabbalah , alchemy , hermetics , Greek and Egyptian mythology and the Christian theosophy of Jakob Boehme , which they tried to reconcile with modern cosmogonies . They tried to renew the declining Christianity with new rites and a modern spirituality , dealt with the development of the soul and with history. They viewed the decline of Christianity and secularization in general , but also the churches' rejection of mysticism , as symptoms of a crisis that they wanted to overcome.

literature

Robert Amadou: Illuminisme et contre-illuminisme au XVIIIème siècle. Cariscript, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-87601-052-6 .
Florian Mehltretter: The text of our nature. Studies on Illuminism and Enlightenment in France in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century. Narr, Tübingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8233-6479-5 (plus habilitation thesis, University of Cologne 2003).

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Christine Bergé: Illuminism. In: Wouter J. Hanegraaff (Ed.): Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill, Leiden 2006, ISBN 978-90-04-15231-1 , pp. 600-606, here p. 600.
^ ^A ^b Antoine Faivre : Esoteric Overview. Secret History of Occidental Thought . Herder, Freiburg / B. 2001, ISBN 3-451-04961-9 , pp. 81-87.

[berge-1] Christine Bergé: Illuminism. In: Wouter J. Hanegraaff (Ed.): Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill, Leiden 2006, ISBN 978-90-04-15231-1 , pp. 600-606, here p. 600.

[faivre-2] A ^b Antoine Faivre : Esoteric Overview. Secret History of Occidental Thought . Herder, Freiburg / B. 2001, ISBN 3-451-04961-9 , pp. 81-87.