Esotericism in African American Religious Experience

Finley, Stephen C.; Guillory, Margarita Simon; Page, Hugh R.

doi:10.1163/9789004283428

Cited by 25 publications

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“…We must ask, in other words, why the study of esotericism privileges certain peoples, texts, ideas, themes and perspectives over others, a question that points us to persistent power imbalances, inequalities, and practices of "othering" (see also Bakker, 2020). Part of the reason for this neglect is the overwhelming but unrecognized, unacknowledged, and understudied whiteness of the field (Bakker, 2020; see also Finley, Guillory and Page, 2015). It seems as if most scholars in Western esotericism were (or are) largely unaware that whiteness is a racial category.…”

Section: A Final Note On Methods and Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Race and (the Study of) Esotericism

Bakker¹

2020

New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism

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The case I wish to make in this essay is simple: race matters in and for the study of esoteric ideas and practice. And how could it not? Esotericisms do not develop in a vacuum, but in particular social, cultural, religious, economic and political contexts. These contexts continue to be marked and shaped by-and in turn inform-what W.E.B. Du Bois so incisively called the "color line."1 Developed in 1903 in The Souls of Black Folk but still poignant, Du Bois coined this phrase to name the visible and invisible lines of demarcation between racial groups. Even as "race is an idea, not a fact," as Nell Irvin Painter (2010, p. ix) famously and concisely put it-and even as racial categories are fluid constructs and not static, fixed identities (Omi and Winant, 1994)-the color line continues to have real-life consequences. This includes explicit forms of racism, like violence and political disenfranchisement, along with implicit racial biases. Examples of such biases are the pervasive inequality in employment, education, health care, and housing, as well as a continued imbalance in the academy when it comes to the study of the history, present, and potential futures of white people and people of color. Racism thus operates in and through systems and structures-and not merely on the level of individual beliefs or actions-that offer advantages for certain racial groups, and disadvantages for others. Racial discrimination comes, moreover, in ever-new forms, and manifests in ever-new ways-in our contemporary moment, such manifestations are often masked or hidden under the guise of the "post-racial" and various forms of "color blindness" (see, among many others, Alexander, 2010;Bonilla-Silva, 2003;Goldberg, 2015). The "color line" is, therefore, neither stable, static nor fixed, nor is it always easily recognizable, nor is its influence always immediately apparent.There seems to be, then, a rather obvious rationale for why perspectives on race matter in and for the study of esotericism. A focus on race will help us to better understand some of the contexts out of which past and present esotericisms emerged, thereby shedding light on why and how certain esotericisms are the way they are. In turn, the study of the intersections of race and esotericism might proffer a new vantage point from where to study processes of 1 Du Bois spoke primarily about the United States, but later scholars have expanded this notion as the "global color line" (

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Section: A Final Note On Methods and Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finley's work helps me to emphasize that although the power to racialize has lain, historically, with white people, people of color have utilized esotericisms to produce new racial formations (for important examples, see Finley, Guillory and Page, 2015;Weisenfeld, 2016). But his provocations prompt, for me, also a question.…”

Section: Abductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Race and (the Study of) Esotericism

Bakker¹

2020

New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism

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The New Witches of the West

Doyle White

2024

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The terms 'witch' and 'witchcraft' have been used to mean many different things over the years. In the twentieth century, some people began referring to themselves as witches and espousing esoteric new religions that they called witchcraft. Some of these new religions – most notably Wicca – were forms of modern Paganism, devoted to the veneration of ancient divinities. Others constituted types of Satanism or Luciferianism, embracing the early modern idea of the witch as a Devil worshipper. Recent years have seen growing numbers of Black Americans who practice African diasporic religions adopt the term 'witch' too. This Element explores why the image of the witch is so appealing to numerous people living in modern Western countries, examining how witchcraft offers people a connection to the past, a vehicle for liberation, and a means of empowering themselves in an often-troubling world.

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Catching Power: Problems with Possession, Sovereignty, and African Religions in Trinidad

Crosson

2017

Ethnos

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Esotericism in African American Religious Experience

Cited by 25 publications

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Race and (the Study of) Esotericism

Race and (the Study of) Esotericism

The New Witches of the West

Catching Power: Problems with Possession, Sovereignty, and African Religions in Trinidad

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