Rider Haggard and the Imperial Occult: Christian Egyptosophy, Romanticism, and Theosophy

Abstract: This paper critically examines the literary oeuvre of H. Rider Haggard, and considers the interface of occult spirituality and mainstream religiosity. More especially, it considers the historical topos of the British Empire, and religious dynamics under colonialism. It analyses the syncretic processual mechanisms and discursive religious constructions which resulted from an attempt to accommodate religions from the colonies to the Empire as Christendom. To do this I have employed the over-arching concept of what I have termed the ‘Imperial Occult’, by which British occultism is understood to be an epiphenomenon of an influx of religious ideas from the colonial periphery.

Presenter bio: Dr Simon Magus is a psychiatrist practising in London, and holds an MA and PhD in Western Esotericism. He is the author of 'Rider Haggard and the Imperial Occult: Hermetic Discourse and Romantic Contiguity', Volume 31 in the ARIES Series: ‘Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism’; Brill, Leiden Publishers (2022).

Affiliation: North East London Foundation NHS Trust (NELFT)