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Abstract
Religion and the study of religion are modern categories and phenomena that cannot be dissociated from race and racism, and the latter, in particular, from Theosophy. Found largely in his magnum opus, The Mystery of Space, this chapter argues that Robert T. Browne’s method of theorizing the nature of space, that draws heavily from occult literature and thought, including Theosophy, quantum physics, and his racialized, embodied experience in the world, offers scholars material for theorizing religion, which the profession should consider self-consciously. The chapter concludes that such a self-aware method is creatively generative, having potential to transform the discipline.
Abstract
The essays in Esotericism in African American Religious Experience: “There is a Mystery” … establish the broad contours for trans-disciplinary examination of esoteric thought and practice in the Africana world. Having established the preliminary groundwork for a new field—Africana Esoteric Studies—the stage is set for exploration of the ways in which secrecy, concealment, and selective disclosure of information deemed essential for survival function within an array of African and African-Diasporan settings, particularly those that are part of the Atlantic World. This essay will look broadly at how the aforementioned tropes are engaged in the lyrics and performances of selected artists in the American Soul—Blues continuum of the late 1970s.