sign in sign up
<<
Home , Spiritualism (beliefs), Western esotericism

EDITORIAL

The history of modern Individuals, ideas, practices

he study of Western esoteric and and Meaning Making in 2005. Scholars at the practices has been a growing research field since University of Turku had also started to take an inter- Tthe 1990s. This thematic issue aims at opening est in and study Western esotericism, especially in this field particularly in the context of Finnish cultural relation to literature and art (see, e.g., Leskelä-Kärki history, although the articles cover also other parts of 2006; Kokkinen 2008, 2011, 2013a, 2013b; Leskelä- the long of Western esotericism in the history Kärki and Harmainen 2017; Mahlamäki 2013, 2014; of . Mahlamäki and Mansikka 2010, 2013). In 2015 scholars interested in esotericism in the Finnish context started a research network called This thematic issue of Approaching aims ‘Uuden etsijät. Esoteerisuus ja uskonnollisuuden at presenting some of the current multidisciplinary murros modernisoituvassa Suomessa (1880–1940)’ research done in this field in Finland. The writers of (‘Seekers of the new: esotericism and the transform­ the articles and the guest editors of the journal repre- ation of religiosity in modernising Finland, 1880– sent the fields of study of religion, cultural history, lit- 1940’). The network organised a seminar (2016) and erary studies, history, art history, and history of ideas. several panels in national and international confer- Throughout the past decade the study in this area has ences (2015, 2016, 2017) and edited a special issue grown also in Finland, and over the past couple of ‘Modern Western Esotericism’ in Historiallinen Aika­ years several scholars have started to engage in more kauskirja (2017). joint efforts in this area. The field is particularly In December 2017 this research network suc- strong in Turku, both at the University of Turku as ceeded in getting funding for a joint, multidisciplin­ well as at Åbo Akademi University, especially in the ary research project from the Kone Foundation. This context of the Donner Institute. Thus it is highly rel- project will be ongoing for the years 2018–20 and evant to publish this special volume precisely in this it will produce symposia, conferences, joint articles journal, Approaching Religion, which is published by and exhibitions together with cultural historical the Donner Institute. museums, as well as a joint volume concerning the The first symposium on Western esotericism was esoteric traditions in Finland between 1880–1940 organised by the Donner Institute in 2008. The papers particularly in the field of art, literature, music, and presented in the symposium were published in Scripta culture in general. Instituti Donneriani Aboensis (vol. 20). But Western The aim of the project, led by the cultural histor­ esotericism was taught, studied and researched even ian Maarit Leskelä-Kärki, is to find a new perspec- before that at Åbo Akademi University. The first course tive on the cultural history of modernising Finland, a was held in 1995, focusing on ’s then perspective that has been somewhat occluded in pre- newly-published book Access to Western Esotericism. vious history writing. The project explores the reli- The first dissertation in the field of Western esoteri- gious and ideological transformation that took place cism was Kennet Granholm’s Embracing the Dark: among the Finnish cultural intelligentsia around The Magic Order of Dragon Rouge. Its Practice in Dark the turn of the twentieth century. Although we have

Approaching Religion • Vol. 8, No. 1 • April 2018 1 known already for a long time that many artists, Hjelt, whose public work in parliament, legislation intellectuals, and members of the so-called educated work and within industrial safety are well known, but class were in many ways interested in the esoteric and whose private side as an enthusiastic theosophist and movements such as , , admirer of , and its effects on her public , and Tolstoyanism, among others, a work, have remained totally unknown. proper analytical and historical study has been lack- Kaartinen’s work with the epistolary archive of ing. The project aims at showing how this was not a Hjelt raises also ethical questions that are in many marginal culture practised by the elite and the occa- regards at the core of the research project as well. sional eccentric person, but part of a wider interna- Does a historian have the right to reveal new aspects tional process which affected the perceptions of the of historical individuals, even though this person ‘new’ or ‘modern’ in terms of science, religion, indi- would have wanted them to remain hidden? How do viduality, gender, and nationalism. we treat people of the past in an ethically solid way, Most of the articles in this special issue are focus- and how do we present them to the current academic ing on Finnish sources and people in the history of and wider public without ridiculing them? Our Finland, but at the same time, the European, and also is that ethically strong research can be done with transnational, of esotericism is at the very core careful work in the archival material and a thorough of these studies. The most important focus of all these contextualisation. This helps in seeing these people as articles is their historical nature, as they all use his- deeply connected to the vast currents of their times. torical source material and aim at seeing individuals, Marja Lahelma’s contribution takes part in the phenomena and ideas in a wider cultural, social and recent growing interest in the esoteric in art history, historical context. where scholars aim at analysing the influence of the All the articles in this current journal approach occult and esoteric in artistic theories and practices. esotericism from the perspective of individual actors. She concentrates on the era of Symbolist Some of the articles are more biographical in their and takes examples from Scandinavian, and particu- nature, and some concentrate on addressing a certain larly Finnish, artists such as the canonised Magnus idea in one person’s life or thoughts. The biographical Enckell and Pekka Halonen, as well as the more mar- approach points out the meaning of autobiographical ginal Beda Stjernschantz. With her detailed and rich material and personal archives in the study of esoteri- contextualization Lahelma shows how the inward cism. One important feature in many of the articles is turn, the ‘quest for the invisible and inexpressible’, the notion of how focusing on the esoteric can help that has been seen as such an essential part of turn- to recognise and interpret an alternative on of-the-century art, was importantly connected to something already familiar. a rising interest in occultism and esotericism. This Antti Harmainen uses a biographical approach influenced crucially the ways in which art was under- in analysing the book Andens eller det rena förnuftets stood and perceived, but it had an important effect religion, by General C. R. Sederholm, which was pub- on the visual qualities of artwork as well. lished in 1885 in Finland. He aims at correcting the Julia von Boguslawski and Jasmine Westerlund biases and misrepresentations of previous studies as have written an article on Olly and Uno Donner well as placing Sederholm in the context of his time, who were first-generation anthroposophists, and and traces his ideological, spiritual and scientific knew personally. They were import­ inspirations. Harmainen’s article clarifies one of the ant figures and actors within the sphere of the most important aims of our ongoing research project: of Finland and Sweden, by looking at the geographical and cultural margins, and – posthumously – within the scientific study such as Finland at the turn of the 1900s, we can find of religion via their donation to Åbo Akademi new connections and surprising transnational move- University (providing for the founding and main­ ments in the field of Western esotericism that have tenance of the Donner Institute and its library, so far mostly been looked at from the perspective of research opportun­ities, symposia and publications Anglo-American or French/German surroundings. such as Approaching Religion). This article is the Marjo Kaartinen’s article shows how focusing first thorough description of their lives and the ways on esotericism can lead to something new and pre- they practised anthro­posophy based on careful work viously untold. Kaartinen reads the letters of Vera within different archives in different countries. The

2 Approaching Religion • Vol. 8, No. 1 • April 2018 article emphasises the meaning of art as a spiritual women’s activities in esoteric movements. Women or religious task, and as a means of developing one’s like Vera Hjelt, Olly Donner or Kersti Bergroth open . It also shows the pioneering work of Olly up new and quite neglected aspects of esoteric move- and Uno Donner, who were the first to practise bio- ments – or at least their contribution within this area dynamic agriculture and Waldorf pedagogy, as well of Finnish cultural history which has previously been as anthroposophically-based curative education for marginalised. mentally-disabled children in Finland. It is as important to see how gender is not the Tiina Mahlamäki’s article sheds light on the life only factor, but how class and social position plays of Kersti Bergroth, a first-generation antroposophist an important part as well. As seen in this journal, we and an author, nowadays known mainly for her popu­ can conclude that esoteric movements were particu- lar books for girls and plays written in the Karelian larly well received among middle- and upper-class dialect. Bergroth was, however, a diversifying author people, among the elite and the educated classes. active in various literary fields. One important thread For example, the transnational lifestyle of Uno and in her literary work was related to anthroposophy. Olly Donner, about whom Julia von Boguslawski and Mahlamäki analyses one of her novels, and shows Jasmine Westerlund write in this journal, would not how the influence of both and have been possible without considerable wealth and Rudolf Steiner can be found in a fictive text that does elite status. Or in the case of Carl Gustaf Sederholm, not openly declare or present an esoteric or anthro- whose esoteric ideas are in the focus of Antti posophic worldview. The analysis places this Finnish Harmainen’s article, who was a powerful member of author among the mainstream esoteric writers and the elite and also possessed the economic means to thinkers of past centuries. support theosophical circles in Finland before the By contrast with the other contributions to this official organisation of the movement. edition, Tomas Mansikka’s article looks further Also the book reviews in this journal concentrate back in history, to the when on literature concerning or relevant to the study of approaches now understood as esoteric were more Western esotericism. The book reviews are written by or less commonplace and shared the methods of younger scholars and postgraduate students from the researchers and philosophers. Mansikka focuses Universities of Tampere, Turku, and Åbo Akademi on the philosopher René Descartes, whose name is University. seldom mentioned in textbooks of Western esoteri- We hope that this thematic issue shows how rich cism. Focusing on the concept of the poetic imagin­ and multidisciplinary the research field concerning ation – one of the main characteristics of Western the esoteric traditions in Finland is at the moment. esotericism defined by Antoine Faivre – and the ways The research done in Finland importantly contrib- René Descartes uses and understands it, Mansikka utes to this research field, particularly from the per- opens up a new way of interpreting and understand- spective of cultural periphery and margins, as well as ing his , and its meaning in the making of from the perspective of biographical approaches with the modern understanding of science. a gendered focus.  Both the history of Western esotericism and the academic study of Western esotericism have been TIINA MAHLAMÄKI and MAARIT LESKELÄ-KÄRKI dominated by male actors. One purpose of this issue Guest Editors is to balance the gender bias by introducing female PhD, Adjunct Professor Tiina actors both as researchers and as researched. The Mahlamäki is working as a Senior concepts of gender and class are of crucial import­ Lecturer at the University of ance in the field of study of esoteric movements. As Turku, Department of Compara- tive Religion in the School of His- the research tradition has for a long time focused tory, Culture, and Art Studies. She only on the activities of men in the movements, and is an expert on studying fictional from a rather gender-neutral perspective, there is a texts as well as biographical writ- need for a research that takes both women’s agency in ing. Her main research interests are: religion and literature, gender and religion, con- the movements more seriously as well as studies how temporary religion and non-religion in Finland, Western esotericism, the diverse movements within it, and the esotericism, and creative writing. In her recent studies she practices, were gendered. Many of the articles present has concentrated on Western esotericism, especially the

Approaching Religion • Vol. 8, No. 1 • April 2018 3 ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg and themes associated with tino and Mariangela Monaca (Palermo, Officina di Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophical Society. Her biography Studi Medievali), pp. 621–9 of the author and anthroposophist Kersti Bergroth was —2014. ‘ “A touch of the spiritual ”? An anthropo- published in 2017. sophical core in the life and work of Kersti Bergroth (1886–1975)’, Finnish Women Making Religion: Maarit Leskelä-Kärki, PhD, is an Between Ancestors to Angels, eds Terhi Utriainen and Adjunct Professor and a Senior Päivi Salmesvuori (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan), Lecturer in the Department of pp. 103–21 Cultural History at the Univer- Mahlamäki, Tiina, and Tomas Mansikka, 2010. ‘Remarks sity of Turku and a vice-director on Swedenborgian elements in the literary production of SELMA: Centre for the Study of Johan Ludvig Runeberg’, Temenos: Nordic Journal of of Storytelling, Experientiality Comparative Religion, 46(1): 73–99 and Memory. Her main research interests include cultural history of —2013. ‘ “His visions have captured my thoughts”: women’s writing and literature, his- Emanuel Swedenborg in the newspapers and national tory and theory of biography and literature in 19th century Finland’, Emanuel Sweden­ autobiographical sources as well as gender and religion. borg: Exploring a ”World Memory”. Context, Content, She is the leader of the research project Uuden etsijät. Contribution, ed. Karl Grandin (Stockholm, The Esoteerisuus ja uskonnollisuuden murros modernisoituvassa Center for the History of Sciences, The Royal Swedish Suomessa 1880–1940. Her most recent publications include of Sciences), pp. 296–311 a book on biographical writing Toisten elämät. Kirjoituk- sia elämäkerroista (Avain 2017) and a coedited volume, Biography, Gender and History: Nordic Perspectives (k&h- publishing, 2016).

References Kokkinen, Nina, 2008. ‘The art of mystification: eso- tericism differentiated in the definition of Finnish Symbolism’, Western Esotericism, ed. Tore Ahlbäck (Turku, Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History), pp. 98–111 —2011. ‘The artist as initiated master: themes of fin-de- siècle occulture in the art of Akseli Gallen-Kallela’, Fill Your ! Paths of Research into the Art of Akseli Gallen-Kallela (Espoo, The Gallen-Kallela Museum), pp. 46–59 —2013a. ‘Occulture as an analytical tool in the study of art’, ‘Occulture and Modern Art’, Special issue in : Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism, pp. 7–36 —2013b. ‘Hugo Simberg’s art and the widening perspec- tive into Swedenborg’s ideas’, Emanuel Swedenborg: Exploring a “World Memory”. Context, Content, Con­ tribution, ed. Karl Grandin (Stockholm, The Center for History of Science, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences), pp. 246–66 Leskelä-Kärki, Maarit, 2006. Kirjoittaen maailmassa. Krohnin sisaret ja kirjallinen elämä (Helsinki, SKS) Leskelä-Kärki, Maarit, and Antti Harmainen, 2017. ‘Moderni länsimainen esoteria historiallisena ilmiönä ja tutkimuskohteena’, Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 2, pp. 131–7 Mahlamäki, Tiina, 2013. ‘The reception of Emanuel Sweden­borg in Finnish mewspapers in the 19th century’, Religion in the History of European Culture: Proceedings of the EASR Annual Conference and IAHR Special Conference, 14–17 September 2009, Messina (Italy), eds Giulia Sfameni Gasparro, Augusto Cosen-

4 Approaching Religion • Vol. 8, No. 1 • April 2018