Research subject Magic, Mysticism, and Esotericism

As a result of a dominant concept of religion modeled on Protestantism, magic, mysticism, and esotericism have often been seen as marginal and problematic forms of religion in the west.

Research on magic, mysticism, and esotericism entails a critical approach to category formations (e.g. “religion vs. magic vs. science”), combined with empirical studies to how these traditions have continued to thrive and evolve even within the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). Examples include popular and learned magical traditions, mystical experiences within and outside established religious communities, Jewish and Christian kabbalah, “occult sciences” like alchemy and astrology, initiatory societies, spiritualism, occultism and alternative spiritualities. The research field foregrounds practice, experience, and looser forms of social organization, the historically blurry boundaries between science and religion, interreligious and multiethnic transfers, as well as how orthodoxy and orthopraxy is negotiated in specific historical contexts.