Call for Papers for a panel, to be held at the EASR conference “Religion in the History of European Culture” Messina, 14-17 September 2009 Panel: ‘The presence of esoteric currents and ideas in Italy from the 18th century to our days’ Convenor: Marco Pasi (University of Amsterdam) A significant amount of research has been done in Italy on the history of esoteric ideas, but this has been mainly focused on the late Middle Ages or the early modern period. From the presence of magic, alchemy, and astrology in medieval thought, to the revival of Hermetic and Neoplatonic ideas during the Renaissance up to the Scientific Revolution, the importance of this field of research for the history of Italian culture has been widely acknowledged. But the permanence of these ideas and cultural traditions in Italy in the period that begins with the Enlightenment, has perhaps received less attention from academic scholars, and still offers many interesting, potentially fruitful threads for research. These include for instance the influence in Italy of Swedenborgianism and of animal magnetism, the spreading of an esoterically oriented high-degree freemasonry, the impact of spiritualism, occultism, traditionalism, neopaganism, and, more recently, of New Age ideas. The announcement of the preparation of a volume devoted to the history of esotericism in Italy in the prestigious series of the Annali Einaudi is perhaps the occasion to focus on these different currents and ideas in the late modern period. Proposals focusing on historiographical aspects, i.e. in particular on the history of the study of esoteric currents and ideas in the 20th century in Italy will also be particularly welcome. Proposals can be submitted either in Italian or in English. Both languages will be accepted for the panel. Deadline for proposal submission is 31 March 2009 Proposals, together with a brief curriculum, should be sent to Marco Pasi: m.pasi@uva.nl For more information on the conference and registration see:

http://ww2.unime.it/easr09/eng/index.html
http://www.easr.eu