PREREQUISITES FOR THE “THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY” ESTABLISHMENT ON THE TERRITORY OF FRANCE DURING THE PERIOD OF THE “MAGICAL REVIVAL”

Viktor  GUDZ; Dmytro   POMAZAN

doi:10.24919/2519-058X.24.264734

Authors

Viktor GUDZ PhD hab. (History), Professor, Professor of the Department of History and Archeology of Bohdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5756-1683
Dmytro POMAZAN Post-Graduate Student of the Department of History and Archeology, Melitopol State Pedagogical University, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6300-4306

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.24.264734

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to characterize the “Theosophical Society” formation and activities as the element of the “Magical Revival” in France in the XIXth century. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity. In addition to general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, philosophical method, induction and deduction, special historical methods have been used in the study: historical comparative, historiographical, historical and typological methods, as well as – for a complex study – the interdisciplinary method of sympathetic empiricism has been used to define esotericism as a religious component of society. The scientific novelty is that, for the first time in the Ukrainian historiography, the processes of institutionalization of occult societies issues development on the territory of France began. In particular, an important component of the study of this topic is to elucidate the process of the Magical Revival, as a complex sociocultural phenomenon that emerged on the territory of France in the second half of the XIXth century. The formation of the Theosophical Society is part of this process, so it is crucial to consider the history of this organization in the appropriate context. The Conclusions. Due to the latest approaches to analysis of the study on “Western Esotericism”, which made it possible to establish a link between institutionalization of the esoteric movement, the spread of the occult press, and deployment of the activities of the Theosophical Society on the territory of France. It has been proved that the specified factors are appropriate to be considered part of the process of the Magical Revival and the previous traditions of the French society. The presented facts made it possible to expand the list of prerequisites that influenced the Theosophical Society establishment in modern historiography.

Key words: esotericism, religion, history, Theosophy, France, occultism.

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