List of occultists
Notable people, whether contemporary, historical or legendary, who are or were involved in any of the following practices and traditions:
- occult science
- paranormal magic, "black" or "white"
- witchcraft
- sorcery
- wizardry
- astrology
- alchemy
- practical mysticism
- West African Vodun, Haitian Vodou, or Louisiana Voodoo
- divination and fortune-telling
- theurgy
For a list of sleight of hand artists and practitioners of stage magic, see: List of magicians.
Classical mythology
- Cassandra, oracle
- Circe, legendary sorceress.[1]
- Hecate, goddess of witchcraft.[2]
- Medea - Often identified with Angitia, she had fled to Italy in her dragon chariot.[3]
- Melampus, soothsayer and magician.[4]
- Semiramis, semi-legendary queen and sorceress.[5]
- Vegoia, legendary inventor of Etruscan divination.[6]
Ancient world
- Abaris the Hyperborean, a legendary sage, healer, and priest of Apollo.[7]
- Alexander of Abonoteichus, founder of Glycon-worship and oracle
- Apollonius of Tyana, wizard.[8]
- Apuleius, author of a magical novel.[9]
- Apsethus the Libyan, magician who attempted to prove he was divine.[10]
- Atomus, Magus who worked for Antonius Felix at Caesarea.
- Elymas, Jewish Magus who opposed Paul on Cyprus
- Gyges of Lydia, king said to possess magical artifacts.
- Heraclitus, philosopher important in occultism.[11]
- Hermes Trismegistus/Thoth
- Iamblichus, neo-platonist philosopher, espoused theurgy
- Iannes and Mambres, magicians at Pharaoh's court mentioned in the New Testament
- Julian, practiced occult theurgy
- Mary the Jewess, oldest known alchemist in western culture
- Plato, philosopher
- Plotinus, neo-platonist philosopher important in occultism.[12]
- Pythagoras, philosopher important in occultism
- Ptolemy, astrologer
- Simon Magus, magician mentioned in New Testament
- Solomon, king said to be the builder of the first temple with help of demons
- Virgil, subjected to magical legends
- Vyasa, author and character of Mahabharat
- The Witch of Endor, witch and spirit medium of King Saul in the Old Testament
- Zhang Jiao, leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion
- Zhuge Liang, advisor to Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms period
- Zoroaster, founder of the order of the Magi
- Zosimos of Panopolis, Egyptian alchemist and gnostic mystic
Medieval Europe
- Abraham Abulafia, kabalist "messiah"
- Albertus Magnus, had many magical texts attributed to him
- Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, associated with the goddess Áine
- Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, shapeshifter skilled in the black arts
- Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, alchemist thought to have magical powers
- Gilles de Rais, serial killer accused of sorcery
- Jābir ibn Hayyān, Persian alchemist that influenced all Medieval alchemy
- Joachim of Fiore, Christian esotericist who founder his own group called the Joachimites
- John of Nottingham and Robert Marshall, accused of attempting to kill Edward II with magic
- Merlin, Arthurian wizard
- Morgan le Fay, witch sister of King Arthur
- Nicolas Flamel, alchemist
- Pietro d'Abano astrologer and purported author of the Heptameron
- Ramon Llull, syncretic mystic
- Roger Bacon, philosopher accused of magic
- Michael Scot, Magician
- Ímar Ua Donnubáin, Norse-Gaelic navigator and sorcerer
Renaissance
- Abramelin the Mage, alleged author of a grimoire
- Ali Puli, anonymous author of seventeenth-century alchemical and hermetic texts
- Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, occult philosopher, astrologer
- Roger Bolingbroke, astrologer and alleged necromancer
- Olaus Borrichius, Danish alchemist
- Sir Thomas Browne, hermetic philosopher
- Giordano Bruno, occult philosopher
- Benevenuto Cellini, sculptor whose diary relates experience summoning spirits
- Christina of Sweden, abdicated Queen who dabbled in alchemy
- Arthur Dee, hermetic author, and son of John Dee
- John Dee, Queen Elizabeth's court astrologist.
- Gerhard Dorn, Belgian follower of Paracelsus
- Faust, made a pact with the Devil, also see Doctor Faustus
- Marsilio Ficino, astrologer and translator of the "Corpus Hermeticum"
- Robert Fludd, occult philosopher and astrologer
- Edward Kelley, medium who assisted John Dee
- Athanasius Kircher, Jesuit priest, wrote on magical subjects
- John Lambe, astrologer to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
- Nostradamus, soothsayer, seer, astrologer
- Paracelsus, medical pioneer and occult philosopher
- Henry Percy, "Wizard Earl"
- Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, humanist and Neoplatonist
- Sir Walter Raleigh, practiced alchemy
- Johannes Reuchlin, German cabalist magician, summoned angels
- Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, patron of alchemists
- Ursula Southeil
- Johannes Trithemius, cryptographer and magical writer
- Johann Weyer (aka Johannes Wierus), German physician, occultist and demonologist
Enlightenment
- Ulrica Arfvidsson, politically influential Swedish fortune-teller.
- Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian occultist
- Antoine Court de Gebelin, connected tarot and esotericism
- Etteilla, fortune-teller
- Isobel Gowdie, self-confessed witch
- Margaret Matson, New Sweden (colony) witch
- Françoise Athenaïs Rochechouart, marquise de Montespan, royal mistress
- Sir Isaac Newton, renowned physicist and alchemist
- Count of St Germain, alchemist
- Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, founder of Martinism, writer known as the Unknown Philosopher
- Emanuel Swedenborg, alchemist, founder of Swedenborgianism
- "La Voisin", French sorceress
Nineteenth century
- Evangeline Adams, astrologer to the famous
- Francis Barrett, wrote a book on magic
- Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym, French demonologist
- Algernon Blackwood, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- William Blake, poet of the occult
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, author of several occult novels
- Constant Chevillon, the head of FUDOFSI
- Aleister Crowley, The founder/prophet of modern Thelema
- Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes
- Robert Felkin, medical missionary and explorer, member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Stella Matutina, author on Africa and medicine
- Henri Gamache, authority on the Evil Eye
- A. Frank Glahn
- Rudolf John Gorsleben
- Stanislas de Guaita, occult author
- John George Hohman, American wizard
- Allan Kardec, founder of Spiritism
- Giuliano Kremmerz alchemist and occult author
- William Lyon MacKenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada
- Siegfried Adolf Kummer
- Marie Laveau, American New Orleans Voodoo practitioner
- Marie Anne Lenormand, fortune-teller favoured by Joséphine de Beauharnais
- Eliphas Lévi, occult author
- Harvey Spencer Lewis, founder of AMORC
- Ralph Maxwell Lewis, Imperator of AMORC
- Guido von List
- Arthur Machen, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Friedrich Bernhard Marby
- Moina Mathers, first initiate in Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, wife of S.L. MacGregor Mathers, and Imperatrix of the Alpha et Omega
- Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers, founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Evan Morgan, poet and aristocrat Lord Tredegar
- Papus, pseudonym for Gérard Encausse, occult author
- Paul Foster Case, Founder of BOTA, Adept of the Western Mystery Tradition, Teacher, Occult author,
- Paschal Beverly Randolph, American physician and sex magician
- Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic and healer
- Carl Reichenbach
- Theodor Reuss
- Arthur Rimbaud, visionary poet, adventurer
- Pamela Colman Smith, Golden Dawn member, artist, designed the Waite-Smith tarot deck
- Austin Osman Spare, author, painter, magician
- Ludwig Straniak
- August Strindberg, dramatist, alchemist
- Arthur Edward Waite, occult author and member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- William Wynn Westcott, cofounder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Hellmut Wolff
- William Butler Yeats, poet, Golden Dawn member, astrologer
Twentieth century
- Margot Adler, witch and NPR reporter
- Antero Alli, author, artist, teacher
- Kenneth Anger, disciple of Crowley
- Kurt E. Koch
- Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, occultist, occult author, teacher
- Franz Bardon, occult author, magician
- Michael Bertiaux, author of the Voudon Gnostic Workbook, occult artist
- Ray Buckland, author, teacher
- William S. Burroughs, author, member of the Illuminates of Thanateros
- W. E. Butler, esoteric author
- Ralph Tegtmeier aka Frater U∴D∴, occultist, author, founder of Pragmatic Magic, Cyber Magic and Ice Magic
- Laurie Cabot, witch, high priestess, author
- Christopher Penczak, author
- D. J. Conway, author
- Marjorie Cameron, Scarlet Woman of Jack Parsons' rituals, artist, actress
- Peter J. Carroll, occultist, author, founder of Chaos magic
- Carlos Castaneda, sorcerer, writer, anthropologist
- Jean Chevalier, occult author, philosopher, theologian
- Jinx Dawson, ceremonial magician, artist, recording artist
- Samson De Brier
- Maya Deren, filmmaker and Haitian Vodou priestess
- Ramsey Dukes, occult author
- Gerina Dunwich, witch and occult author
- Lon Milo DuQuette
- Julius Evola
- Dion Fortune, occult author
- Gerald Gardner, author and founder of the religion of Wicca
- H. R. Giger, artist, designer
- Kenneth Grant, occultist, author, pupil of Crowley
- Gregor A. Gregorius, occultist, author, founder of the lodge Fraternitas Saturni
- Manly Palmer Hall, occult author, teacher
- Frieda Harris, occultist, artist
- Max Heindel, author
- Heinrich Himmler, Nazi Reichsführer SS
- Phil Hine, occult author
- Murry Hope, occult author
- Christopher Hyatt, author, teacher, publisher
- Alejandro Jodorowsky, filmmaker, comic book writer
- Gareth Knight, occult author
- Dora van Gelder Kunz, occult author
- Roger de Lafforest, occult author
- Anton LaVey, occult author, founder of the Church of Satan
- Timothy Leary, psychologist, member of the Illuminates of Thanateros
- Sybil Leek, witch and occult author
- Martinus, Danish occultist
- Alan Moore, magician and comic creator
- Grant Morrison, comic writer and magician
- Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff, occultist, science fiction writer
- Tommaso Palamidessi, Christian Occultist, founder of the Archeosophical Society
- Jack Parsons, occultist, author, and rocket scientist
- Genesis P-Orridge, of Psychic TV video group and TOPY chaos magician
- Israel Regardie, occult author, magician, pupil of Aleister Crowley[13]
- Jane Roberts, author[14]
- Robin Skelton, British-Canadian witch, poet[15]
- Stephen Skinner, Australian author
- Starhawk, witch and occult author[16]
- Rudolf Steiner, founder of anthroposophy[17]
- Gerald Suster, occult author[18]
- Nikola Tesla, often connected to UFOlogy, and new age occult theories[19]
- Mellie Uyldert, occult author[20]
- Doreen Valiente, priestess and author[21]
- Hannes Vanaküla, mage[22]
- Leila Waddell, mystic and muse
- Robert Anton Wilson, author[23]
- Catherine Yronwode, occult author[24]
See also
- List of astrologers
- List of alchemists
- List of occult writers
- List of spirituality-related topics
- List of magicians in fantasy
References
- ↑ Salverte, Eusèbe (1847). The occult sciences: The philosophy of magic, prodigies, and apparent miracles. Harper & Brothers. p. 14.
- ↑ Lewis, James R. Witchcraft Today: An Encyclopedia of Wiccan and Neopagan Traditions. ABC-CLIO. p. 12.
- ↑ Monaghan, Patricia. Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines. New World Library. p. 267.
- ↑ Stevens (2013). Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Folklore and Occult Sciences. Sneakers. p. 313.
- ↑ O'Kirwan, Cornelia. Behind the Psychic Curtain. Xulon Press. p. 364.
- ↑ "Theological Studies, Volume 10", page. 450, 1949.
- ↑ Cornelius Agrippa; Eric Purdue; Christopher Warnock. Three Books of Occult Philosophy Book One: A Modern Translation. Lulu.com. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-105-89879-2.
- ↑ de Laurence, L. W. (2007). Great Book of Magical Art, Hindu Magic and East Indian Occultism, and the Book of Secret Hindu, Ceremonial, and Talismanic Magic. p. 315.
- ↑ Copenhaver, Brian P. (1978). Symphorien Champier and the Reception of the Occultist Tradition in Renaissance France. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110805512.
- ↑ Donaldson, Sir James. Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, v. 1 (1868). Princeton University. p. 197.
- ↑ Steiner, George (2011). The Poetry of Thought: From Hellenism to Celan. New Directions Publishing. p. 34.
- ↑ Taylor, Thomas (1834). Translation from the Greek of the following treatises ¬of ¬Plotinus: viz. on suicide, to which is added an extract from the Harleian MS. of the scholia of Olympiodorus, on the Phaedo of Plato respecting suicide, accompanied by the Greek text, two books on truly existing being, and extracts from his treatise on the manner in which the multitude of ideas subsists, and concerning the good : with additional notes from Porphyry and Proclus. p. 7.
- ↑ "Dr. Francis Israel Regardie". Goldendawnpedia.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ↑ Walter Martin; Jill Martin Rische; Van Gorden Kurt. The Kingdom of the Occult. Thomas Nelson Inc. p. 570.
- ↑ "Wicca from a Canadian perspective - Biography of Robin Skelton". The Wicca.ca. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ↑ Jim Doyle (2004-10-29). "EARTH MOTHER / Author Starhawk is a spiritual leader for Bay Area witches". SFGate. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ↑ Staudenmaier, Peter. "Institute for Social Ecology Anthroposophy and Ecofascism - Institute for Social Ecology". Social-ecology.org. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ↑ Gerald Suster: Hitler & the Age of Horus PDF file
- ↑ Kephas, Aeolus (2004). The Lucid View: Investigations Into Occultism, Ufology and Paranoid Awareness. Adventures Unlimited Press. p. 216.
- ↑ "Interview with Mellie Uyldert". Astrologie.ws. 1999-11-27. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ↑ Doreen Valiente Foundation (1922-01-04). "The Official Doreen Valiente Website - Doreen Valiente - Biography". Doreen Valiente. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ↑ Postimees 22 February 2009: Keskerakondlased nõuavad Pihlilt maag Hannese kohta aru
- ↑ Digitalis, Raven (2007). Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 62.
- ↑ Knowles, Chris (2007). Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes. Weiser. p. 97.