Study day for doctoral students on the history of Freemasonry

After London (2012) and Brussels (2013), the University of Bordeaux hosts the third international study day for doctoral students on the history of Freemasonry. The organizers Andrew Pink (University College London), Cécile Révauger (Université Bordeaux Montaigne) and Jeffrey Tyssens (Free University Brussels-VUB) again welcome young Ph.D-students to present their research to a panel of colleagues and experts. Presentations are given by Amanda Brown, Simon Deschamps, Rachel Kopelman, Miguel Hernandez, Brinda Venkaya Reichert and Christian Meyer. 

Thursday March 13, 2014, 9am - 4:30pm, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France.

Sessions on Western Esotericism at AAR meeting 2014

The next meeting of the American Academy of Religion will include, as has been the case for a number of years now, several sessions organized by the group for Western esotericism (co-chaired by Cathy Gutierrez and Marco Pasi). This group seeks to reflect and further stimulate the current process — reflected in the recent creation of new teaching programs, international associations, journals, book series, and reference works — of professionalization and scholarly recognition of Western esotericism as a new area of research in the study of religion. For more information on the field, see the websites of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE, http://www.esswe.org), the Association for the Study of Esotericism (ASE, http://www.aseweb.org), and the Center for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam (http://amsterdamhermetica.nl).

For the necxt meeting of the AAR in San Diego 2014, the Western esotericism group invites paper proposals on the following topics:

• Lived esotericism: In the last fifteen years the concept of "lived religion" has gained attention from scholars and has been at the basis of a growing number of researches and publications. The Group would like to explore the possibility to apply this concept to the study of Western esotericism. Western esotericism has often been studied by focusing on texts and doctrines, more rarely on the actual experiences of esotericists trying to translate those texts and doctrines into lived, daily practice. The predominant approach based on intellectual history has perhaps led to an idealized, partial image of the social and cultural dimensions of Western esotericism. Please note that proposals should not focus necessarily on contemporary Western esotericism. Proposals on earlier periods will also be welcome.

• Esotericism and imaginative narratives: Possible topics include but are not limited to mystical or initiatory rites presented as fiction, novels that deal extensively with the transmission of esoteric knowledge, and esotericism in popular culture and film. As always, the Group seeks papers from as wide a range of historical periods as possible.

• Transformative and performative aspects of gender in esoteric practices (for a possible joint session with the Queer Studies in Religion Group)

• Western esotericism and African American culture: There is in recent years a growing interest in the study of Western esotericism in the context of African American culture. The Group welcomes proposals on this topic (for a possible joint session with the Afro-American Religious History Group).

• Western esotericism and ritual studies: We are interested in receiving proposals that focus on the way in which esoteric rituals can be related to nature, the environment, or ecological concerns (for a possible joint session with the Ritual Studies Group)

Please look for further information on how to submit directly in the AAR website (https://www.aarweb.org/annual-meeting/call-for-papers).The deadline for the submission of proposals is Monday, 3 March 2014.

New Board Member OVN

The board of the OVN has recently welcomed a new member: drs. Jimmy Koppen. He graduated as an historian and is currently working as a researcher at the Center for Academic and Secular Archives (CAVA), Free University Brussels - VUB. Koppen is also a member of the Interdisciplinary Research Group Freemasonry (FREE) and adjunct professor at Vesalius College Brussels. He regulary publishes on Freemasonry, secularism and freethought and political history of Belgium. Amongst his publications is a book on the actions of the Nazi regime against Freemasons ans Jews in occupied Belgium, 1940-1944 (Passer en Davidster) and The Economics of Providence. Management, finances and patrimony of religious orders and congregations in Europe, 1773-1930 (co-edited with Maarten Van Dijck, Jan De Maeyer and Jeffrey Tyssens). He also wrote the Dutch edition of Freemasons for Dummies, and has a personal blog on Freemasonry (in Dutch only).

OVN Tweets!

The OVN Foundation exchanged its printed newsletter for this digital version in 2007. The rise of social media makes blogging feel almost oldfasioned, so we've added a Twitter account. Feel free to follow us at @stichtingovn.

Change of Adress

The postall adress of the OVN Foundation has changed per 1/1/2014! Please note the new adress in your administration, so your announcements and questions will keep on reaching us:

OVN Foundation
PO BOX 65700
2506 EA The Hague
The Netherlands 

 Our e-mailadress remains unchanged (info@stichtingovn.nl).

Enchanted Modernities

'Enchanted Modernities: Theosophy, Modernism and the Arts, c. 1875-1960' is a new interdisciplinary academic project. Bringing together scholars who are experts on the visual arts, music, sound and literature from all over the world, the Network's events will explore what the visual, material and performing arts can tell us about the relationships between Theosophy, modernity and mysticism c. 1875-1960. The research carried out by the Network’s partners will examine where and how artists, writers and performers came into contact with Theosophy and other mystical practices, and how Theosophical ideas, especially those of key figures in the Society in this period, such as Helena Blavatsky and Annie Besant, were given material, visual and audible form and shape. Read more here.

Lecture series CIERL

The Centre Interdisciplinaire d'Etude des Religions et de la Laïcité in Brussels is organizing a series of lectures (in French) on freemasonry in February 2013. The program can be downloaded here.

Dissertations

- Art historian Tessel Bauduin obtained her doctorate on 20 December 2012 at the University of Amsterdam on The occultation of Surrealism: a Study of the Relationship between Bretonian Surrealism and Western Esotericism. One of her main conclusions states that although Surrealism was 'influenced' by western esotercism, it didn't mean that artists like André Breton were 'followers' of a particular current. According to Bauduin they did take an interest in esoteric ideas, but only used certain concepts and practises as a way to tap into the creative subconscious and create works of art.

- Anaïs Maes defended her dissertation La franc-maçonnerie et la construction d'indentités nationales en Belgique (long XIXe siècle) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel on 9 May 2012. The dissertation looks at the relation between freemasonry and nationalism. How did freemasons react to the rise of nationalistic sentiment at the beginning of the 19th century and the creation of the Belgian state? Maes looked for answers in the documents which got into Russian hands after WWII and stayed there for more than half a century.For a balanced answer she studied both masonic and non masonic sources from these archives.

Upcoming Conferences

- The organization of the upcoming international conference Ways of Gnosis: Mystical and esoteric traditions from Antiquity to the present time (10-13 April 2013) has circulated a call for papers. This  event is organized by the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature, Association for the Study of Esotericism and Mysticism, in cooperation with the Institute “Russian Anthropological School” of the Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow), the Research Centre for Esotericism and Mysticism at Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (St. Petersburg), the Scientific-Educational Centre “Free Philosophical Society”, and is supported by the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE). Deadline for applications is 20 February 2013, but for those who need a visum to travel to Russia, the deadline is earlier: 15 January 2013. Contact: symposium04.2013@gmail.com.

- On Wednesday 27 March 2013 the second international Student Day on the history of freemasonry will take place under the guidance of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The aims are the stimulation of knowledge on freemasonry under the participants and  the development of an international network.
Study Day organizers are: dr. Andrew Pink (UCL, UK), agpink01@gmail.com; prof. Cécile Rivauger (Université de Bordeaux, France), cecile.revauger@wanadoo.fr; prof. Jeffrey Tyssens (VUB, Belgium), jtyssens@vub.ac.be. Details from the previous Study Day in 2012 can be found here.

Publications

- Austrian researcher Eugen Semrau has published Erleuchtung und Verblendung. Einflüsse esoterischen Gedankenguts auf die Entwicklung der Wiener Moderne. The book describes the Viennese modernism in art and culture around 1900, with Vienna as the centre of the 'revolution of the mind'. The book contains chapters on the development of 'alternative thinking' in Europe, 'naional' esotericism and the relation between western esotericism, freemasonry and religion.

- John Belton's new oublication, The English Masonic Union of 1813, describes the issues and personalities involved in the bringing together of the Antients and the Moderns in 1813, in order to form the United Grand Lodge of England. Belton offers new perspectives on this important event in the history of British freemasonry.

-The exhibition Egypt in England (The Quadriga Gallery, Wellington Arch, London, 7 November 2012 until 13 January 2013) shows the cultural influence of ancient Egypt, from the Regency period to the Art Deco interiors of cinemas. The exhibition is based on a new book by Chris Elliot, which contains a chapter titled 'Freemasonry: Wisdom from the East and the Pharaohs Apron'.