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{{Expand list|date=October 2018}}
{{Expand list|date=October 2018}}


This list comprises historical people notably involved in the [[occult]] and whose occultism forms an important, meaningful part of their public identity. The classical categories of occult practice are [[astrology]], [[magic]] and [[alchemy]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Battistini |first1=Matilde |title=Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art |date=2007 |publisher=Getty Publications |location=Los Angeles, California |isbn=1007016612 |page=6 |edition=1st}}</ref> Contemporary scholarship has generally regarded "the occult" as a problematic category which is usually applied only to late 19th century movements, such as [[theosophy]] and the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], without controversy. It should not be confused with the related but distinct fields of [[mysticism]], [[esotericism]], [[mythology]] and [[Neo-Paganism]]. Figures who have had an important influence on occult practice, such as [[Plato]] or [[Jesus Christ]], but whose public identity is not meaningfully associated with occultism should not be considered for inclusion.
This list comprises and encompasses people, both contemporary and historical, who are or were professionally or otherwise notably involved in [[occult]] practices. People who were or are merely believers of occult practices should not be included unless they played a leading or otherwise significant part in the practice of occultism.


Because of the contentious nature of [[witch trials|historical witchcraft accusations]], people accused of witchcraft should not be added to this list unless there is substantial qualification for such inclusion such as a manual authored by the accused. Likewise, although historically the terms "magic" and "witchcraft" have been used interchangeably, the extent to which contemporary witchcraft movements are designated occult is variable in contemporary scholarship and such movements are more frequently identified as [[New Age]], [[Feminist theology]], Neo-pagan and non-supernatural ecological and feminist movements. For the avoidance of confusion, witchcraft advocates should comprise a separate category.
==Before Middle Ages==
''People professionally or notably involved in occultism prior to the [[Middle ages]]''


==Antiquity==
*[[Abe no Seimei]], Japanese painter and alleged mage.
''Figures notably associated with occultism prior to 500 AD''
*[[Abaris the Hyperborean]], a legendary sage, healer, and priest of Apollo<ref>{{cite book|author1=Cornelius Agrippa|author2=Eric Purdue|author3=Christopher Warnock|title=Three Books of Occult Philosophy Book One: A Modern Translation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdzQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-105-89879-2|page=26|year=2012}}</ref>

* [[Alexander of Abonoteichus]], founder of Glycon-worship and oracle
*[[Alexander of Abonoteichus]], magician. Alexander was regarded as a fraudulent magician by contemporaries.
* [[Apollonius of Tyana]], Philosopher.
*[[Apollonius of Tyana]], magician. Apollonius is an important figure in the [[Neoplatonism]] of late antiquity.
* [[Apuleius]], author of a magical novel<ref>{{cite book|title=Symphorien Champier and the Reception of the Occultist Tradition in Renaissance France|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=1978|first=Brian P.|last=Copenhaver|isbn=9783110805512}}</ref>
* [[Apuleius]], magician.
* [[Apsethus the Libyan]], magician who attempted to prove he was divine<ref>{{cite book|title=Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, v. 1 (1868)|first=Sir James|last= Donaldson|page=197|publisher=Princeton University}}</ref>
* [[Apsethus the Libyan]], magician.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, v. 1 (1868)|first=Sir James|last= Donaldson|page=197|publisher=Princeton University}}</ref>
* [[Atomus]], Magus who worked for [[Antonius Felix]] at [[Caesarea]]
* [[Atomus]], magician.
* [[Empedocles]], Philosopher who advocated the idea that all matter is composed of water, fire, air and earth.
* [[Elymas]], [[Jew]]ish Magus who opposed [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]] on [[Cyprus]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biblehub.com/acts/13-8.htm|title=Acts 13_8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.|accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref>
* [[Elymas]], magician. Elymas is mentioned in [[Acts]] where he is opposed to [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]] at [[Cyprus]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biblehub.com/acts/13-8.htm|title=Acts 13_8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.|accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref>
* [[Iamblichus (philosopher)|Iamblichus]], magician. Iamblichus, a prominent Neoplatonist philosopher in late antiquity, is an essential figure in the historical reception of magic due to the influence it exerted on his philosophy and those of subsequent Neoplatonists.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Occult World|page=64|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlC2BQAAQBAJ|publisher=Routledge|first=Christopher|last=Partridge|isbn=9781317596752|date=2014-12-05}}</ref>
* [[Gyges of Lydia]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult|page=103|first=Geoffrey|last=Lamb}}</ref> king said to possess magical artifacts
* [[Julian the Apostate]], magician. Julian was Roman emperor from 361 to 363 and adopted Iamblichus' magical practices in opposition to Christianity.
* [[Heraclitus]], philosopher important in occultism<ref>{{cite book|title=The Poetry of Thought: From Hellenism to Celan|url=https://archive.org/details/poetrythoughtfro00stei|url-access=limited|first=George|last=Steiner|publisher=New Directions Publishing|year=2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/poetrythoughtfro00stei/page/n17 34]}}</ref>
* [[Hermes Trismegistus]]/[[Thoth]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdSAAgAAQBAJ&pg=|page=19|publisher=Routledge|first=Frances|last=Yates|isbn = 9781134524419|date = 2003-08-27}}</ref>
* [[Mary the Jewess]], alchemist.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of the Occult|first=Harry E.|last= Wedeck|year=2009|page=70}}</ref>
* [[Ptolemy]], astrologer.
* [[Iamblichus (philosopher)|Iamblichus]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Occult World|page=64|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlC2BQAAQBAJ|publisher=Routledge|first=Christopher|last=Partridge|isbn=9781317596752|date=2014-12-05}}</ref> neo-platonist philosopher, espoused theurgy
* [[Simon Magus]], magician.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13797b.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Simon Magus|website=www.newadvent.org|access-date=2017-03-25}}</ref>
* [[Iannes]] and [[Mambres]], magicians at Pharaoh's court mentioned in the [[New Testament]]
*[[Cyprian_and_Justina|St Cyprian]], magician. Cyprian converted to Christianity when the maiden Justinia resisted his love spells through prayer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dirgemag.com/saint-cyprian-patron-saint-dark-magic/|title=Meet Saint Cyprian, Patron Saint of Dark Magic {{!}} Dirge Magazine|last=Wilhelm|first=Cooper B.|date=2016-12-17|work=Dirge Magazine|access-date=2018-01-13|language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]], Theurgist
* [[Mary the Jewess]], 4th century alchemist<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of the Occult|first=Harry E.|last= Wedeck|year=2009|page=70}}</ref>
* [[Zhang Jiao]], magician. Zhang Jiao was a leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval China|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|first=Victor|last=Xiong|page=488}}</ref>
* [[Zosimos of Panopolis]], alchemist.<ref>{{cite book|title=Precipitations: Contemporary American Poetry as Occult Practice|page=13|first=Devin|last=Johnston|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|year=2002}}</ref>
* [[Merlin (wizard)|Merlin]], Wizard in Arthurian Legend.

* [[Morgan le Fay]], Goddess, whose name is used in the legend of her being the witch sister of fictitious King Arthur who is portrayed as a savior of his people from tyranny, pre-Roman invasion of the West Isles<ref>{{cite book|title=An Encyclopædia of Occultism: A Compendium of Information on the Occult Sciences, Occult Personalities, Psychic Science, Magic, Demonology, Spiritism and Mysticism|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofo1920spen|year=1920|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofo1920spen/page/279 279]|first=Lewis|last=Spence}}</ref>
===Contentious===
* [[Plato]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Theatre of the Occult Revival: Alternative Spiritual Performance from 1875 to the Present|page=23|first=Edmund B.|last= Lingan|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2014}}</ref> philosopher

* [[Plotinus]], neo-platonist philosopher important in occultism<ref>{{cite book|title=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|year=1834|first=Thomas|last=Taylor|page=7}}</ref>
* [[Pythagoras]], mathematician and founder of a [[Pythagoreans|religious sect]]. Pythagoras was regarded as a magician in late antiquity but insufficient primary sources have survived to identify the precise nature of his practices.
* [[Pythagoras]], Greek mathematician, numerologist, philosopher important in occultism<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Solomon]], Biblical king of Israel. Solomon has long been associated with magic and several Medieval grimoires were attributed to him. [[The Qur'an]] attributes magical powers to Solomon but no contemporaneous accounts have survived.
* [[Ptolemy]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebookofthemoon.com/magic.htm|title=The Book of the Moon - Magic. The Occult, Astrology, Alchemy, Prophecy, Fortune Telling, Spells and Superstition|accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref> astrologer
* [[Zoroaster]], founder of [[Zoroastrianism]]. In late antiquity, and especially in Neoplatonic literature, Zoroaster was believed to be the father of magic and astrology. Some scholars have regarded these associations as a variety of ancient orientalism.
* [[Simon Magus]], magician mentioned in [[New Testament]] of the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Bible]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13797b.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Simon Magus|website=www.newadvent.org|access-date=2017-03-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gnosis.org/library/grs-mead/grsm_simon_magus.htm|title=Simon Magus, by G.R.S. Mead.|website=gnosis.org|language=en|access-date=2017-03-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Simon-Magus|title=Simon Magus {{!}} Samarian magician|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-03-25|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/BQA/k/153/Who-Was-Simon-Magus-Acts-89-24.htm|title=Who Was Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-24)?|website=www.cgg.org|access-date=2017-03-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Scroll of Thoth: Simon Magus and the Great Old Ones- Twelve Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos|last=Tierney|first=Richard L.|date=1997-12-01|publisher=Chaosium|isbn=9781568821054|editor-last=Price|editor-first=Robert M.|edition=1st|location=Oakland, CA|language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/apocryphal-writings-and-latter-day-saints/12-simon-magus-history-versus-tradition|title=12. Simon Magus: History Versus Tradition {{!}} Religious Studies Center|website=rsc.byu.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-03-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Simon-Magus|title=Simon Magus - Encyclopedia of The Bible - Bible Gateway|website=www.biblegateway.com|access-date=2017-03-25}}</ref>
* [[Solomon]], reputed inventor of the [[Seal of Solomon]] and [[pseudepigrapha|supposed author]] of the [[Testament of Solomon]], [[Key of Solomon]], [[Magical Treatise of Solomon]], [[Lesser Key of Solomon]]
*[[Cyprian_and_Justina|St Cyprian]] of Antioch, 4th Century sorcerer & patron saint of dark magic who converted to Christianity when the maiden Justinia resisted his love spells through prayer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://listverse.com/2014/09/06/10-of-historys-most-fascinating-sorcerers/|title=10 Of History's Most Fascinating Sorcerers - Listverse|date=2014-09-06|work=Listverse|access-date=2018-01-09|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dirgemag.com/saint-cyprian-patron-saint-dark-magic/|title=Meet Saint Cyprian, Patron Saint of Dark Magic {{!}} Dirge Magazine|last=Wilhelm|first=Cooper B.|date=2016-12-17|work=Dirge Magazine|access-date=2018-01-13|language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[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]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval China|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|first=Victor|last=Xiong|page=488}}</ref> 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]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Precipitations: Contemporary American Poetry as Occult Practice|page=13|first=Devin|last=Johnston|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|year=2002}}</ref> Egyptian alchemist and gnostic mystic


==Middle Ages==
==Middle Ages==
''People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the [[Middle ages]] (circa 500-1400)''
''Figures notably associated with occultism between 500 and 1350''


*[[Abe no Seimei]], magician.
* [[Abraham Abulafia]], kabbalist "messiah"
* [[Cecco d'Ascoli]], astrologer. Cecco d'Ascoli was burned at the stake for attempting to create a birth chart for Jesus Christ.
* [[Abramelin the Mage]], Egyptian sage<ref>{{cite book|title=Vampire Nation|page=210|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide|first=Arlene|last=Russo}}</ref>
* [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]], alchemist. Jābir ibn Hayyān's writings exerted a lasting influence on alchemical and astrological practice.
* [[Roger Bolingbroke]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of the Occult|page=89|publisher=Wildside Press LLC|first=Harry|last= Wedeck}}</ref> astrologer and alleged necromancer
* [[John of Nottingham]], magician. Along with accomplice Robert Marshall he was accused of attempting to kill [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] with magic.
* [[Albertus Magnus]], had many magical texts attributed to him
* [[Nicolas Flamel]], alchemist.<ref>{{cite book|title=The occult|page=132|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=1991}}</ref>
* [[Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond]], associated with the goddess [[Áine]]
* [[Pietro d'Abano]], astrologer.
* [[Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare]], shapeshifter skilled in the black arts
* [[Ramon Llull]], astrologer. Lull's theological writings were influential in later occultism and related areas.
* [[Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare]], alchemist thought to have magical powers
* [[Roger Bacon]], alchemist and astrologer.
* [[Gilles de Rais]], [[serial killer]] accused of sorcery
* [[Michael Scot]], astrologer.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Dante Encyclopedia|page=770|publisher=Routledge|first=Richard|last=Lansing}}</ref>
* [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]], Persian-Arab alchemist that influenced all Medieval alchemy
* [[Joachim of Fiore]], Christian esotericist who founded his own group called the [[Joachimites]]
* [[John of Nottingham]] and [[Robert Marshall (magician)|Robert Marshall]], accused of attempting to kill [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] with magic
* [[Nicolas Flamel]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The occult|page=132|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=1991}}</ref> considered one of Europe's greatest alchemists<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Pietro d'Abano]] astrologer and purported author of the Heptameron
* [[Ramon Llull]], syncretic mystic
* [[Roger Bacon]], philosopher accused of magic
* [[Michael Scot]], Magician<ref>{{cite book|title=The Dante Encyclopedia|page=770|publisher=Routledge|first=Richard|last=Lansing}}</ref>
* [[Ímar Ua Donnubáin]], [[Norse-Gaelic]] navigator and sorcerer


==Renaissance==
==Sixteenth century==
''People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 16th-century''
''Figures notably associated with occultism between 1350 and 1600''


* [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]], occult philosopher, astrologer
* [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]], magician. Agrippa is the author of the Renaissance occult manual [[Three Books of Occult Philosophy]].
* [[Roger Bolingbroke]], astrologer.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of the Occult|page=89|publisher=Wildside Press LLC|first=Harry|last= Wedeck}}</ref>
* [[Giordano Bruno]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century|year=2005|url=https://archive.org/details/modernoccultrhet00gunn|url-access=limited|pages=[https://archive.org/details/modernoccultrhet00gunn/page/n42 12], 267|publisher=University of Alabama Press|first=Joshua|last=Gunn}}</ref> occult philosopher
* [[Giordano Bruno]], astrologer and magician. Bruno was a well-known cosmologist who was burned for heresy. Associations with Hermeticism begin with [[Francis Yates]]' influential work on Bruno but are currently contentious.<ref>{{cite book|title=Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century|year=2005|url=https://archive.org/details/modernoccultrhet00gunn|url-access=limited|pages=[https://archive.org/details/modernoccultrhet00gunn/page/n42 12], 267|publisher=University of Alabama Press|first=Joshua|last=Gunn}}</ref>
* [[Benevenuto Cellini]], sculptor whose diary relates experience summoning spirits
* [[John Dee]], magician. Dee was a well-known figure, strongly associated with the classical branches of occult practice. He was also a mathematician, scholar and adviser to [[Elizabeth I]].
* [[Cosimo Ruggeri]], Italian astrologer and occultist
* [[Gerhard Dorn]], alchemist.
* [[John Dee]], occult philosopher, mathematician, alchemist, Queen Elizabeth's advisor<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Faust]], magician.
* [[Gerhard Dorn]], Belgian follower of Paracelsus
*[[Marsilio Ficino]], magician. Ficino was strongly associated with occultism during his lifetime. He was adviser to the [[Medici]] and the translator of important texts including the Neoplatonists and the [[Hermetica]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Occult World|page=55|publisher=Routledge|year=2014}}</ref>
* [[Faust]], made a pact with the Devil, also see [[Doctor Faustus (play)|Doctor Faustus]]
* [[Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare]], alchemist.
*[[Marsilio Ficino]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Occult World|page=55|publisher=Routledge|year=2014}}</ref> astrologer and translator of the "Corpus Hermeticum"
* [[Robert Fludd]], alchemist.
* [[Edward Kelley]], spirit medium and alchemist who worked with John Dee, founder of [[Enochian magic]]<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Edward Kelley]], magician and alchemist. Associate of John Dee.
* [[John Lambe]], astrologer to [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham]]
* [[John Lambe]], astrologer.
* [[Nostradamus]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Kingdom of the Occult|page=242|author1=Walter Martin|author2= Jill Martin Rische|author3= Van Gorden Kurt|year=2008}}</ref> one of the world's most famous prophets<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Giovanni Pico della Mirandola]], magician and astrologer. Pico della Mirandola is notable for introducing [[cabala]] into Western occultism.
* [[Paracelsus]], medical pioneer and occult philosopher
* [[Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland|Henry Percy]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Humanism, Machinery, and Renaissance Literature|page=18|publisher=Cambridge University Press|first=Jessica|last=Wolfe}}</ref> "Wizard Earl"
* [[Nostradamus]], astrologer. Nostradamus is remembered as a soothsayer.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Kingdom of the Occult|page=242|author1=Walter Martin|author2= Jill Martin Rische|author3= Van Gorden Kurt|year=2008}}</ref>
* [[Paracelsus]], alchemist.
* [[Giovanni Pico della Mirandola]], humanist and neoplatonist
* [[Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland|Henry Percy]], alchemist.<ref>{{cite book|title=Humanism, Machinery, and Renaissance Literature|page=18|publisher=Cambridge University Press|first=Jessica|last=Wolfe}}</ref>
* Sir [[Walter Raleigh]], practiced alchemy
* [[Gilles de Rais]], magician. Gilles de Rais was convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of many children, a practice which he claimed to have initiated as an attempt to conjure demonic powers.
* [[Johannes Reuchlin]], German cabalist magician, summoned angels
* [[Johannes Reuchlin]], magician.
* [[Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor]], patron of alchemists
* [[Cosimo Ruggeri]], astrologer.
* [[Ursula Southeil]], English soothsayer and prophet
* [[Johannes Trithemius]],<ref>{{cite book|title=John Dee's Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature|page=111|first=Deborah|last= Harkness|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999}}</ref> cryptographer and magical writer
* [[Johannes Trithemius]], magician.<ref>{{cite book|title=John Dee's Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature|page=111|first=Deborah|last= Harkness|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999}}</ref>
* [[Johann Weyer]] (aka Johannes Wierus), German physician, occultist and demonologist.
* [[Johann Weyer]], magician.


==Age of Reason==
==Seventeenth century==
''People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 17th-century''
''Figures notably associated with occultism from 1600 to 1850''


* [[Elias Ashmole]], the first known speculative Freemason.
* [[Elias Ashmole]], alchemist. Ashmole is an important cultural figure in England and an early Freemason.
* [[Francis Barrett (occultist)|Francis Barrett]], magician. Barrett wrote [[The Magus (Barrett book)|The Magus]], a magical handbook.
* [[Olaus Borrichius]], Danish alchemist
* [[Thomas Browne]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Alchemy of the Word: Cabala of the Renaissance|page=245|first=Philip|last=Beitchman|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1988}}</ref> hermetic philosopher
* [[Alessandro Cagliostro]], magician. Cagliostro was an important reformer of Freemasonry, especially in France and Italy.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy|page=52|first=Rosemary|last=Guiley|publisher=Infobase publishing}}</ref>
* [[Arthur Dee]], hermetic author, and son of John Dee
* [[Count of St. Germain]], alchemist and magician.
* [[Marie Laveau]], magician. Laveau is an important figure in [[Louisiana Voodoo]].
* [[Robert Fludd]], occult philosopher and astrologer
* [[Isaac Newton]], alchemist. Newton is a seminal figure in the history of science.
* [[Isobel Gowdie]], self-confessed professional sorcerer
* Sir [[Isaac Newton]], renowned physicist and alchemist
* [[August Nordenskiold]], alchemist
* [[Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin]], magician. Saint-Martin was the founder of [[Martinism]].
* [[Ali Puli]], anonymous author of seventeenth-century alchemical and hermetic texts
* [[Emanuel Swedenborg]], alchemist. Swedenborg's writings are the basis of [[Swedenborgianism]]. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swedenborgstudy.com/articles/history-religion/occult.htm|title=MAGUS INCOGNITO_ Was Swedenborg responsible for the 'Occult Revival'|work=swedenborgstudy.com}}</ref>
* [[Catherine Monvoisin|La Voisin]], French professional magician
* [[Catherine Monvoisin|La Voisin]], magician. La Voisin is a central figure in the [[Affair of the Poisons]] and was accused of demonolatry and the manufacture of poisons.
* [[Krishnananda Agamavagisha]], Tantric guru and scholar from Bengal
* [[Jean-Baptiste Willermoz]], magician. Closely associated with Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin.


==Enlightenment==
===Contentious===
''People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the [[Age of Enlightenment]] (18th-century)''


* [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton]]. Lytton was a Freemason who authored several novels with occult themes but there are no sources indicating that Bulwer-Lytton experimented with astrology, magic or alchemy.
* [[Ulrica Arfvidsson]], politically influential Swedish fortune-teller
* [[Antoine Court de Gebelin]]. Gebelin is best remembered for attributing esoteric meaning to [[tarot]] and was a prominent Freemason. However, there are no primary sources to identify him with astrology, magic or alchemy.
* [[Gustaf Björnram]], Swedish spiritual medium
* [[Alessandro Cagliostro]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy|page=52|first=Rosemary|last=Guiley|publisher=Infobase publishing}}</ref> Italian occultist
* [[Antoine Court de Gebelin]], connected [[tarot]] and esotericism
* [[Etteilla]], fortune-teller
* [[Marquis de Sade]], the 18th aristocrat, writer and libertine
* [[Count of St. Germain]], alchemist and occultist<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Höffern]], German-Swedish fortune teller
* [[August Nordenskiold]], alchemist and Swedenborgian
* [[Charlotta Roos]], Swedish spiritual medium
* [[Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin]], founder of [[Martinism]], writer known as the [[Unknown Philosopher]]
* [[Emanuel Swedenborg]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swedenborgstudy.com/articles/history-religion/occult.htm|title=MAGUS INCOGNITO_ Was Swedenborg responsible for the 'Occult Revival'|work=swedenborgstudy.com}}</ref> alchemist, founder of [[Swedenborgianism]]
* [[Henrik Gustaf Ulfvenklou]], Swedish spiritual medium


==Nineteenth century==
==Modern Period==
''People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 19th-century''
''Figures notably associated with occultism from 1850 to the present''


* [[Evangeline Adams]], astrologer.
*[[Adolf Hitler]], German politician.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/08/an-interview-with-historian-eric-kurlander-about-his-book-hitlers-monsters-a-supernatural-history-of-the-third-reich.html|title=What Can the Nazis’ Obsession With the Supernatural Teach Us About Life in Our Own Post-Truth Times?|last=Onion|first=Rebecca|date=2017-08-24|website=Slate Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/hitlers-obsession-with-the-occult-35975075.html|title=Hitler's obsession with the occult|website=independent|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/05/hitlers-forgotten-library/302727/|title=Hitler's Forgotten Library:|website=The Atlantic|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aeon.co/ideas/the-nazis-as-occult-masters-its-a-good-story-but-not-history|title=The Nazis as occult masters? It’s a good story but not history – Peter Staudenmaier {{!}} Aeon Ideas|last=Occultism|first=Peter Staudenmaier is associate professor of history at Marquette University in Wisconsin His latest book is Between|last2=Anthroposophy|first2=Nazism:|website=Aeon|access-date=2020-03-06|last3=Era|first3=the Politics of Race in the Fascist}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/nazis-occult.amp.html|title=The Nazis' love affair with the occult|website=bigthink.com|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref>
* [[Antero Alli]], astrologer.
* [[Albert Pike]], An authority as regards Freemasonry and arguably the most imperative mason during his time.
* [[Kenneth Anger]], magician. Anger is a notable filmmaker and follower of [[Thelema]].
* [[Mirra Alfassa]], Indian poet and mystic.
* [[Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki]], magician.
* [[Evangeline Adams]], astrologer to the famous
* [[Alice Bailey]], astrologer.
* [[Francis Barrett (occultist)|Francis Barrett]], wrote a [[The Magus (handbook)|book]] on magic
* [[Franz Bardon]], magician.
* [[Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym]], French demonologist
* [[Annie Besant]], astrologer.
* [[Algernon Blackwood]], member of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]
* [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]], founder of [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]]
* [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]], astrologer. As the founder of [[theosophy]], Blavatsky is regarded as a seminal figure in the category of occultism.
* [[William Breeze]], magician.
* [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton]], author of several occult novels
* [[W. E. Butler]], magician.
* [[Constant Chevillon]], head of [[FUDOFSI]]
* [[Peter J. Carroll]], magician.
* [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], creator of [[Sherlock Holmes]]
* [[Paul Foster Case]], magician. Case was the founder of [[Builders of the Adytum]].
* [[Robert Felkin]], medical missionary and explorer, member of [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]] and [[Stella Matutina]], author on Africa and medicine
* [[Aleister Crowley]], magician. Crowley is a notable personality in the modern history of occultism. He founded [[Thelema]], a religion based on his ideas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oto-usa.org/thelema/|title=Thelema – US Grand Lodge|website=oto-usa.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-08-04|date=2013-02-16}}</ref><ref name="AtoZ">{{cite book |title=An A to Z of the Occult |last1=Cox |first1=Simon |author-link=Simon Cox (author) |last2=Foster |first2=Mark |publisher=[[Mainstream Publishing]] |year=2007 |isbn=9781845961572 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/SKELETON-KEY-OCCULT-KANSI-ONWUEKWE-ebook/dp/B074YW5C14|title=SKELETON KEY OF THE OCCULT - Kindle edition by KANSI ONWUEKWE. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.|website=www.amazon.com|access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref>
* [[Paul Foster Case]], founder of [[Builders of the Adytum|BOTA]], adept of the Western mystery tradition, teacher, occult author
* [[Samson De Brier]], magician.
* [[Henri Gamache]], authority on the [[Evil eye|Evil Eye]]
* [[A. Frank Glahn]], German mystic
* [[Ramsey Dukes]], magician.
* [[Stanislas de Guaita]], occult author
* [[Lon Milo DuQuette]] magician.
* [[Julius Evola]], alchemist. Evola is a notable writer on occult subjects.
* [[John George Hohman]], American wizard
* [[Stewart Farrar]], magician.
* [[Allan Kardec]], founder of [[Spiritism]]
* [[Giuliano Kremmerz]] alchemist and occult author
* [[Dion Fortune]], magician and astrologer.
* [[Fulcanelli]], alchemist.
* [[William Lyon MacKenzie King]], prime minister of Canada
* [[Robert Felkin]], magician.
* [[Marie Laveau]], American [[Louisiana Voodoo|New Orleans Voodoo]] practitioner
* [[Gerald Gardner (Wiccan)|Gerald Gardner]], magician. Gardner was the creator of [[Wicca]], a religion which encompasses some magical thought but is also sometimes not categorised as "occult" in religious scholarship.
* [[Marie Anne Lenormand]], French [[fortune telling|fortune-teller]] favoured by [[Joséphine de Beauharnais]]
* [[Kenneth Grant]], magician.
* [[Eliphas Levi|Eliphas Lévi]], French occult author and ceremonial magician<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Guido von List]], Austrian writer and mystic.
* [[John Michael Greer]], magician.
* [[Eugen Grosche]] (known as Gregor A. Gregorius), magician. Gregorius was the founder of [[Fraternitas Saturni]].
* [[Arthur Machen]], member of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]
* [[Stanislas de Guaita]], magician. Guaita is a notable figure in [[Fin de siècle]] occultism.
* [[Moina Mathers]], first initiate in [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], wife of [[S.L. MacGregor Mathers]], and Imperatrix of the [[Alpha et Omega]]
* [[Phil Hine]], magician.
* [[Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers]], founder of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]
* [[Christopher Hyatt]], magician.
* [[Papus]], pseudonym for [[Gérard Encausse]], occult author
* [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]], alchemist. Jodorowsky is a notable filmmaker and author.
* [[Jacques Collin de Plancy]], French occultist, demonologist and writer
* [[Giuliano Kremmerz]], alchemist.
* [[Paschal Beverly Randolph]], African American physician and [[sex magic]]ian
* [[Roger de Lafforest]], magician.
* [[Grigori Rasputin]], Russian mystic and healer
* [[Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels]], magician.
* [[Carl Reichenbach]], Austrian Occultist.
* [[Eliphas Levi|Eliphas Lévi]], magician. Levi's writings in magical theory are highly influential in the category of occult magic.
* [[Theodor Reuss]], German mason.
* [[Guido von List]], magician.
* [[Arthur Rimbaud]], visionary poet, adventurer
* [[Moina Mathers]], magician.
* [[Pamela Colman Smith]], Golden Dawn member, artist, designed the Waite-Smith [[tarot]] deck
* [[Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers]], magician. Mathers was a founder of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]].
* [[August Strindberg]], dramatist, alchemist
* [[Grant Morrison]], magician.
* [[Arthur Edward Waite]], occult author and member of [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]
* [[Papus]], pseudonym for [[Gérard Encausse]], magician. Papus is an influential figure in [[esotericism]].
* [[William Wynn Westcott]], cofounder of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]
* [[John Whiteside Parsons|Jack Parsons]], magician.
* [[Karl Maria Wiligut]], Austrian occultist and [[SS-Brigadeführer]]
* [[Genesis P-Orridge]], magician.
* [[William Butler Yeats]], poet, Golden Dawn member, astrologer
* [[Paschal Beverly Randolph]], magician.
* [[Charles Webster Leadbeater]], occult books author and influential member of the [[Theosophical Society Adyar]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blavatskytheosophy.com/the-unavoidable-facts-about-c-w-leadbeater/|title=The Unavoidable Facts about C.W. Leadbeater|date=2013-09-07|work=Blavatsky Theosophy Group UK|access-date=2017-08-08|language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Israel Regardie]], magician.
* [[Annie Besant]], British writer, socialist and occultist<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/2566|title=Occultism and Occult Training - Theosophical Society in America|last=Binford|first=Harry|website=www.theosophical.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anandgholap.net/AB_CWL_Occult_Chemistry.htm|title=Theosophy : Occult Chemistry by Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater |website=www.anandgholap.net|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
* [[Theodor Reuss]], magician.
* [[Pierre Bernard (yogi)]], American occultist, businessman and yogi popularly known as "Oom The Omnipotent"
* [[Stephen Skinner (author)|Stephen Skinner]], magician.
* [[Damodar K. Mavalankar]], Indian Theosophist.
* [[Austin Osman Spare]], magician.
* [[Arthur Edward Waite]], magician. Waite was a prolific occult author.
* [[Don Webb (writer)]], magician.
* [[William Wynn Westcott]], magician. Westcott was a cofounder of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]].
* [[Karl Maria Wiligut]], magician.
* [[Robert Anton Wilson]], magician.<ref>{{cite book|title=Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide|first=Raven|last=Digitalis|page=62|year=2007}}</ref>
* [[William Butler Yeats]], magician. Yeats is a prominent figure in modern poetry.


===Contentious===
==Twentieth century==
''People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 20th century;''


* [[William S. Burroughs]], was an influential author and figure in the Beat movement. He has long been associated with magical practices but the extent to which these practices are popularly associated with his reception is debatable.
* [[Paul Twitchell]], Founder of the [[Eckankar]] religion and student of oriental occultism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eckankar.org/Masters/Peddar/hisStory.html|title=The Story of Paul Twitchell|website=www.eckankar.org|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Martin|first=Walter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1qaOUDfCeEC&pg=PA571 |title=The Kingdom of the Occult|last2=Rische|first2=Jill Martin|last3=Kurt|first3=Van Gorden|last4=Rische|first4=Kevin|date=2008-10-21|publisher=Harper Collins|isbn=978-1-4185-1644-4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allaboutreligion.org/truth-about-eckankar-faq.htm|title=Truth About Eckankar|website=AllAboutReligion.org|language=en|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref>
* [[Carlos Castaneda]] was an anthropologist. Although associated with magic, especially in the 1960s [[counterculture]], the authenticity of his writings is controversial.
* [[Margot Adler]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Kingdom of the Occult |page=453|author1=Walter Martin|author2=Jill Martin Rische|author3=Kurt Van Gorden}}</ref> witch and NPR reporter
* [[Heinrich Himmler]] was a highly prominent ideologue of [[Nazism]] and the founder of the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]. One of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, Himmler was a principle author of [[the Holocaust]]. His involvement in [[ariosophy]] is well documented and he advanced deeper association between the [[NSDAP]] and a variety of German occult practices. His association with occultism, while acknowledged, rarely features in peer-reviewed studies of Himmler and is not prominent in his public image.
* [[Antero Alli]], author, artist, teacher
* [[Anton LaVey]] was the founder of the [[Church of Satan]]. Despite his association with occult imagery, LaVey was an atheist who denied the efficacy of occult practices and his idiosyncratic interpretation of magic is problematic for scholars of new religious movements.
* [[Kenneth Anger]], filmmaker, author, and disciple of [[Aleister Crowley|Crowley]]
* [[Timothy Leary]] was a psychologist and psychedelic advocate. He is often associated with counter-cultural occultism and regarded himself as the reincarnation of Aleister Crowley, but there is no documentary evidence that he believed his activities paralleled occultism.
* [[Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki]], occultist, occult author, teacher
* [[Sybil Leek]], [[Doreen Valiente]] and [[Rosaleen Norton]] were all prominent "media witches". The extent to which they are regarded as occultists depends upon the controversial designation of magic to contemporary witchcraft movements, movements sometimes categorised under the exclusive terms "New Age", "Neo-Pagan", "Volkish Movements" and non-supernatural ecological and feminist movements. Because of the undecided categorisation of contemporary witchcraft, advocates of witchcraft should be categorised separately.
* [[Alice Bailey]], English writer, mystic and [[Theosophist]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/alicebailey.htm|title=Alice Bailey—Contemplative, Mystic, and Occultist|website=www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com|access-date=2017-08-08}}</ref>
* [[Franz Bardon]], occult author, magician
* [[Christian Bernard]], as of 2020, he is the current imperator of the mystical organization; [[Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis]] (AMORC)
* [[Michael Bertiaux]], author of the Voudon Gnostic Workbook, occult artist
* [[William Breeze]], author, musician, occultist, member of rock band [[Coil (band)|Coil]] and [[Current 93]]. Since 21 September 1985, Breeze served as the Head of [[Ordo Templi Orientis]].
* [[David Bowie]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Season_of_the_Witch.html?id=QcHooAEACAAJ|isbn=9780399167669}}</ref> musician and actor
* [[Brother XII]], mystic and founder of Canadian cult
* [[Ray Buckland]], author, teacher
* [[William S. Burroughs]], author, Beat writer
* [[W. E. Butler]], esoteric author
* [[Laurie Cabot]], witch, high priestess, author
* [[D. J. Conway]], occult 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 (writer)|Jean Chevalier]], occult author, philosopher, theologian
* [[Gurumayi Chidvilasananda]], Indian mystic and yogi who (as of 2017) is the spiritual head of [[Siddha Yoga]].
* [[Aleister Crowley]], English occultist and ceremonial magician, founder of [[Thelema]] religion<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oto-usa.org/thelema/|title=Thelema – US Grand Lodge|website=oto-usa.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-08-04|date=2013-02-16}}</ref><ref name="AtoZ">{{cite book |title=An A to Z of the Occult |last1=Cox |first1=Simon |author-link=Simon Cox (author) |last2=Foster |first2=Mark |publisher=[[Mainstream Publishing]] |year=2007 |isbn=9781845961572 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/SKELETON-KEY-OCCULT-KANSI-ONWUEKWE-ebook/dp/B074YW5C14|title=SKELETON KEY OF THE OCCULT - Kindle edition by KANSI ONWUEKWE. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.|website=www.amazon.com|access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref>
* [[Jinx Dawson]], ceremonial magician, artist, founder of rock band [[Coven (band)]], recording artist
* [[Samson De Brier]], Actor and occultist.
* [[Maya Deren]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Maya Deren and the American Avant-garde|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9790520227322/page/205 205]|publisher=University of California Press|year=2001|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9790520227322|url-access=registration}}</ref> filmmaker and [[Haitian Vodou]] priestess
* [[Ramsey Dukes]], occult author
* [[Gerina Dunwich]], witch and occult author
* [[Lon Milo DuQuette]] musician, lecturer, and occultist.
* [[Julius Evola]], Italian philosopher.
* [[Stewart Farrar]], Alexandrian Wiccan, journalist, author
* [[Dion Fortune]], considered one of Great Britain's most famous occultists<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Fulcanelli]], French alchemist and esoteric author<ref name="AtoZ" />
* [[Gerald Gardner (Wiccan)|Gerald Gardner]], author and founder of the religion of [[Wicca]]
* [[Mort Garson]], esoteric electronic music composer
* [[H. R. Giger]], artist, designer, member of the O.T.O.
* [[Rudolf John Gorsleben]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology|page=155|publisher=NYU Press|year=1993}}</ref>
* [[Kenneth Grant]], occultist, author, pupil of Crowley
* [[John Michael Greer]], occult author, fantasist, blogger.
* [[Eugen Grosche]] (known as Gregor A. Gregorius), German 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|Reichsführer]] [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]
* [[Phil Hine]], occult author
* [[Murry Hope]], occult author
* [[Christopher Hyatt]], author, teacher, publisher
* [[Bola Ige]], [[Nigerian]] lawyer and former minister of power who was a Rosicrucian.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200202080173.html|title=Nigeria: 'Ige's Membership of Amorc, an Embarrassment'|last=Ologbondiyan|first=Kola|date=2002-02-08|work=This Day (Lagos)|access-date=2017-12-20}}</ref>
*[[Guru Maharaj Ji (Nigeria)|Guru Maharaj ji]], Nigerian grand master occultist, self proclaimed living perfect master and god.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/guru-maharaj-ji-all-you-need-to-know-about-black-jesus/lqpm3kq.amp|title=Guru Maharaj Ji: All you need to know about “Black Jesus”|website=www.pulse.ng|access-date=2020-02-03}}</ref>
* [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]], filmmaker, comic book writer, author and teacher on 'Psychemagia'
* [[Jiddu Krishnamurti]], Indian occultist and philosopher, who was declared by the [[Theosophical Society Adyar]] as the incarnation of Jesus Christ<ref name="Stripping the Gurus—The Krinsh">{{Cite web|url=http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/krishnamurti.html|title=Stripping the Gurus—The Krinsh|website=www.strippingthegurus.com|access-date=2017-07-22}}</ref> and Krishna,<ref name="Stripping the Gurus—The Krinsh"/> and was destined to be a world teacher.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Maxwell|first=Patrick|date=1994|jstor=24764189|journal=Journal for the Study of Religion|volume=7|issue=2|pages=57–81|title=The Enigma of Krishnamurti}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/krishnamurti.html|title=Stripping the Gurus—The Krinsh|website=www.strippingthegurus.com|access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref>
* [[Siegfried Adolf Kummer]], German occultist.
* [[Kurt E. Koch]]
* [[Konstantinos (occultist)]], American occultist and writer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2007/07/23|title=The Occult - Shows|work=Coast to Coast AM|access-date=2017-03-25|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Nina Kulagina]] - Russian psychic who claimed to possess telekinetic abilities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.randi.org/k---encyclopedia-of-claims.html |title=Encyclopedia of Claims: Kulagina, Nina |last=Randi |first=James |date=1995 |website=randi.org |publisher=James Randi Educational Foundation |accessdate=June 20, 2017 |quote=When the newspaper Pravda [sic] declared her to be a trickster, she sued the editors and won, largely on the basis of testimony given by Soviet parapsychologists.}}</ref>
* [[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
* [[Harvey Spencer Lewis]], founder of [[Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis|AMORC]]
* [[Ralph Maxwell Lewis]], former imperator of [[Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis|AMORC]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rosicrucian.org/podcast/the-function-of-a-rosicrucian-by-ralph-m-lewis-frc/|title=The Function of a Rosicrucian — Ralph M. Lewis, F.R.C. {{!}} Podcasts|website=www.rosicrucian.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-08-08}}</ref>
* [[Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels]], Austrian occultist and pioneer of [[Ariosophy]]
* [[Friedrich Bernhard Marby]], German rune occultist.
* [[Martinus Thomsen|Martinus]], Danish occultist
* [[Alan Moore]], British writer and occultist<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.believermag.com/issues/201306/?read=interview_moore|title=The Believer - Interview with Alan Moore|date=2013-06-01|work=The Believer|access-date=2017-07-19|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar|Evan Morgan]], poet and aristocrat Lord Tredegar
* [[Grant Morrison]], comic writer and magician
* [[Jim Morrison]], musician, occultist,{{fact|date=February 2020}} member of rock band The Doors
* [[Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff]], occultist, science fiction writer
* [[Eddie Nawgu]], [[Nigerian]] sorcerer and self-proclaimed prophet of the Biblical God<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Johannes|first=Harnischfeger|title=State Decline and the Return of Occult Powers: The Case of Prophet Eddy in Nigeria|url=https://www.academia.edu/11897261|journal=Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft|language=en|volume=1|issn=1940-5111}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200012110215.html|title=Nigeria: Death of a "Miracle" Man|last=Ekenna|first=Geoffrey|date=2000-12-11|work=Newswatch (Lagos)|access-date=2017-03-25}}</ref>
* [[Rosaleen Norton]], self-proclaimed Australian witch
* [[Pericoma Okoye]], [[Nigerian]] spiritualist, traditional prime minister, and musician who supposedly manifested several metaphysical abilities during his lifetime.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.tori.ng/news/53748/a-legend-goes-home-ichie-pericomo-okoye-arusi-maka.html|title=A Legend Goes Home: Ichie Pericomo Okoye, Arusi Makaja 1, a.k.a Pericoma, Allegedly Passes On|last=Tori.ng|work=Tori.ng|access-date=2017-07-25}}</ref>
* [[Tommaso Palamidessi]], Christian Occultist, founder of the Archeosophical Society
* [[Jimmy Page]], musician, occultist, member of rock band Led Zeppelin
* [[John Whiteside Parsons|Jack Parsons]], occultist, author, and rocket scientist
* [[Genesis P-Orridge]], of [[Psychic TV]] video group and [[Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth|TOPY]] chaos magician
* [[Mark L. Prophet]], founder of the Summit Lighthouse and proponet of the "I AM" movement who supposedly achieved unification with God and became an 'Ascended Master'<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ascension-research.org/lanello.html|title=Ascended Master Lanello - Mark L. Prophet|last=Center|first=Ascension Research|website=www.ascension-research.org|access-date=2017-08-02}}</ref>
* [[Israel Regardie]], occult author, magician, pupil of Aleister Crowley<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goldendawnpedia.com/HistoryPages/Bios/IsraelRegardie.htm |title=Dr. Francis Israel Regardie |publisher=Goldendawnpedia.com |date= |accessdate=2014-06-29}}</ref>
* [[Jane Roberts]], author<ref>{{cite book|title=The Kingdom of the Occult|publisher=Thomas Nelson Inc|author1=Walter Martin|author2=Jill Martin Rische|author3=Van Gorden Kurt|page=570}}</ref>
* [[Alex Sanders (Wiccan)|Alex Sanders]], founder of [[Alexandrian Wicca]]
* [[Miguel Serrano]], Chilean diplomat, author of books on [[Esoteric Nazism]]
* [[Pekka Siitoin]], Finnish occultist and neo-Nazi
* [[Robin Skelton]], British-Canadian witch, poet<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewicca.ca/people/bc/robin-skelton.php |title=Wicca from a Canadian perspective - Biography of Robin Skelton |publisher=The Wicca.ca |date= |accessdate=2014-06-29}}</ref>
* [[Austin Osman Spare]], author, painter, magician
* [[Ludwig Straniak]]
* [[Stephen Skinner (author)|Stephen Skinner]], Australian author
* [[Starhawk]], witch and occult author<ref>{{cite web|author=Jim Doyle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/EARTH-MOTHER-Author-Starhawk-is-a-spiritual-2639090.php |title=EARTH MOTHER / Author Starhawk is a spiritual leader for Bay Area witches |publisher=SFGate |date=2004-10-29 |accessdate=2014-06-29}}</ref>
* [[Rudolf Steiner]], founder of anthroposophy<ref>{{cite web|last=Staudenmaier |first=Peter |url=http://www.social-ecology.org/2009/01/anthroposophy-and-ecofascism-2/ |title=Institute for Social Ecology Anthroposophy and Ecofascism - Institute for Social Ecology |publisher=Social-ecology.org |date= 2009-01-10|accessdate=2014-06-29}}</ref>
* [[Gerald Suster]], occult author<ref>''Gerald Suster: Hitler & the Age of Horus'' [http://www.realpeacework-akademie.info/sofia/Englisch/E-betterworld/E_DiverseScriptures/Hitler&TheAgeofHorus.pdf PDF file]</ref>
* [[Ralph Tegtmeier]] aka Frater U∴D∴, occultist, author, founder of Pragmatic Magic, Cyber Magic and Ice Magic
* [[Howard Thurston]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-magician-who-astounded-the-world-by-conjuring-spirits-and-talking-with-mummies/|title=The Magician Who Astounded the World by Conjuring Spirits and Talking with Mummies|last=Oatman-Stanford|first=Hunter|website=Collectors Weekly|language=en|access-date=2020-02-02}}</ref> American magician.
* [[Eckhart Tolle]], German writer, mystic and spiritual teacher.
* [[Mellie Uyldert]], occult author<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astrologie.ws/uyldert2.htm |title=Interview with Mellie Uyldert |publisher=Astrologie.ws |date=1999-11-27 |accessdate=2014-06-29}}</ref>
* [[Doreen Valiente]], priestess and author<ref>{{cite web|author=Doreen Valiente Foundation |url=http://www.doreenvaliente.com/Doreen-Valiente-Biography-19.php |title=The Official Doreen Valiente Website - Doreen Valiente - Biography |publisher=Doreen Valiente |date=1922-01-04 |accessdate=2014-06-29}}</ref>
* [[Hannes Vanaküla]], mage<ref>''[[Postimees]]'' 22 February 2009: [http://www.postimees.ee/?id=85670 Keskerakondlased nõuavad Pihlilt maag Hannese kohta aru]</ref>
* [[Swami Vivekananda]], Indian mystic who supposedly possessed all occult powers known and also was a chief disciple of [[Ramakrishna]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maasamiti.org/samiti/media/samvit/samvit12_9_facets.php|title=Samvit|website=www.maasamiti.org|access-date=2017-07-23}}</ref>
* [[Leila Waddell]], mystic and muse
* [[Don Webb (writer)]], author of occult books and former high priest of [[Temple of Set]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://disinfo.com/2013/11/left-hand-path-interview-occultist-don-webb/|title=On the Left Hand Path: An Interview with Occultist Don Webb - disinformation|date=2013-11-01|work=disinformation|access-date=2017-05-09|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808234459/http://disinfo.com/2013/11/left-hand-path-interview-occultist-don-webb/|archive-date=2017-08-08|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Don-Webb/412397419|title=Don Webb|website=Simon & Schuster|language=en|access-date=2017-05-09}}</ref>
* [[Samael Aun Weor]], theurgist and founder of the Gnostic movement<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gnosticteachings.org/books-by-samael-aun-weor/esoteric-medicine-and-practical-magic.html|title=Esoteric Medicine and Practical Magic, a book by Samael Aun Weor|website=gnosticteachings.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://london-gnostic-institute.org/the-founder|title=The Founder {{!}} London Gnostic Institute - G.I.A.|website=london-gnostic-institute.org}}</ref>
* [[Robert Anton Wilson]], author<ref>{{cite book|title=Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide|first=Raven|last=Digitalis|page=62|year=2007}}</ref>
* [[Catherine Yronwode]], occult author<ref>{{cite book|title=Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes|publisher=Weiser|first=Chris|last=Knowles|authorlink=Christopher Knowles (comics)|page=97|year=2007|title-link=Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes}}</ref>
*[[Jesu Oyingbo]], A Nigerian traditionalist & spiritualist who proclaimed himself to be Jesus Christ.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-08-07|title=The Shocking and Unbelievable Story of Jesu Oyingbo, the Self-acclaimed Nigerian Jesus Christ|url=https://oldnaija.com/2018/08/07/the-shocking-and-unbelievable-story-of-jesu-oyingbo-the-self-acclaimed-nigerian-jesus-christ/|access-date=2020-06-09|website=OldNaija|language=en-GB}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 17:12, 31 July 2020

This list comprises historical people notably involved in the occult and whose occultism forms an important, meaningful part of their public identity. The classical categories of occult practice are astrology, magic and alchemy.[1] Contemporary scholarship has generally regarded "the occult" as a problematic category which is usually applied only to late 19th century movements, such as theosophy and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, without controversy. It should not be confused with the related but distinct fields of mysticism, esotericism, mythology and Neo-Paganism. Figures who have had an important influence on occult practice, such as Plato or Jesus Christ, but whose public identity is not meaningfully associated with occultism should not be considered for inclusion.

Because of the contentious nature of historical witchcraft accusations, people accused of witchcraft should not be added to this list unless there is substantial qualification for such inclusion such as a manual authored by the accused. Likewise, although historically the terms "magic" and "witchcraft" have been used interchangeably, the extent to which contemporary witchcraft movements are designated occult is variable in contemporary scholarship and such movements are more frequently identified as New Age, Feminist theology, Neo-pagan and non-supernatural ecological and feminist movements. For the avoidance of confusion, witchcraft advocates should comprise a separate category.

Antiquity

Figures notably associated with occultism prior to 500 AD

Contentious

  • Pythagoras, mathematician and founder of a religious sect. Pythagoras was regarded as a magician in late antiquity but insufficient primary sources have survived to identify the precise nature of his practices.
  • Solomon, Biblical king of Israel. Solomon has long been associated with magic and several Medieval grimoires were attributed to him. The Qur'an attributes magical powers to Solomon but no contemporaneous accounts have survived.
  • Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism. In late antiquity, and especially in Neoplatonic literature, Zoroaster was believed to be the father of magic and astrology. Some scholars have regarded these associations as a variety of ancient orientalism.

Middle Ages

Figures notably associated with occultism between 500 and 1350

Renaissance

Figures notably associated with occultism between 1350 and 1600

Age of Reason

Figures notably associated with occultism from 1600 to 1850

Contentious

  • Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton. Lytton was a Freemason who authored several novels with occult themes but there are no sources indicating that Bulwer-Lytton experimented with astrology, magic or alchemy.
  • Antoine Court de Gebelin. Gebelin is best remembered for attributing esoteric meaning to tarot and was a prominent Freemason. However, there are no primary sources to identify him with astrology, magic or alchemy.

Modern Period

Figures notably associated with occultism from 1850 to the present

Contentious

  • William S. Burroughs, was an influential author and figure in the Beat movement. He has long been associated with magical practices but the extent to which these practices are popularly associated with his reception is debatable.
  • Carlos Castaneda was an anthropologist. Although associated with magic, especially in the 1960s counterculture, the authenticity of his writings is controversial.
  • Heinrich Himmler was a highly prominent ideologue of Nazism and the founder of the SS. One of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, Himmler was a principle author of the Holocaust. His involvement in ariosophy is well documented and he advanced deeper association between the NSDAP and a variety of German occult practices. His association with occultism, while acknowledged, rarely features in peer-reviewed studies of Himmler and is not prominent in his public image.
  • Anton LaVey was the founder of the Church of Satan. Despite his association with occult imagery, LaVey was an atheist who denied the efficacy of occult practices and his idiosyncratic interpretation of magic is problematic for scholars of new religious movements.
  • Timothy Leary was a psychologist and psychedelic advocate. He is often associated with counter-cultural occultism and regarded himself as the reincarnation of Aleister Crowley, but there is no documentary evidence that he believed his activities paralleled occultism.
  • Sybil Leek, Doreen Valiente and Rosaleen Norton were all prominent "media witches". The extent to which they are regarded as occultists depends upon the controversial designation of magic to contemporary witchcraft movements, movements sometimes categorised under the exclusive terms "New Age", "Neo-Pagan", "Volkish Movements" and non-supernatural ecological and feminist movements. Because of the undecided categorisation of contemporary witchcraft, advocates of witchcraft should be categorised separately.

See also

References

  1. ^ Battistini, Matilde (2007). Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art (1st ed.). Los Angeles, California: Getty Publications. p. 6. ISBN 1007016612.
  2. ^ Donaldson, Sir James. Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, v. 1 (1868). Princeton University. p. 197.
  3. ^ "Acts 13_8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith". Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  4. ^ Partridge, Christopher (2014-12-05). The Occult World. Routledge. p. 64. ISBN 9781317596752.
  5. ^ Wedeck, Harry E. (2009). Dictionary of the Occult. p. 70.
  6. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Simon Magus". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2017-03-25.
  7. ^ Wilhelm, Cooper B. (2016-12-17). "Meet Saint Cyprian, Patron Saint of Dark Magic | Dirge Magazine". Dirge Magazine. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
  8. ^ Xiong, Victor. Historical Dictionary of Medieval China. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 488.
  9. ^ Johnston, Devin (2002). Precipitations: Contemporary American Poetry as Occult Practice. Wesleyan University Press. p. 13.
  10. ^ The occult. Houghton Mifflin. 1991. p. 132.
  11. ^ Lansing, Richard. The Dante Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 770.
  12. ^ Wedeck, Harry. Dictionary of the Occult. Wildside Press LLC. p. 89.
  13. ^ Gunn, Joshua (2005). Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century. University of Alabama Press. pp. 12, 267.
  14. ^ The Occult World. Routledge. 2014. p. 55.
  15. ^ Walter Martin; Jill Martin Rische; Van Gorden Kurt (2008). The Kingdom of the Occult. p. 242.
  16. ^ Wolfe, Jessica. Humanism, Machinery, and Renaissance Literature. Cambridge University Press. p. 18.
  17. ^ Harkness, Deborah (1999). John Dee's Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature. Cambridge University Press. p. 111.
  18. ^ Guiley, Rosemary. The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy. Infobase publishing. p. 52.
  19. ^ "MAGUS INCOGNITO_ Was Swedenborg responsible for the 'Occult Revival'". swedenborgstudy.com.
  20. ^ "Thelema – US Grand Lodge". oto-usa.org. 2013-02-16. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
  21. ^ Cox, Simon; Foster, Mark (2007). An A to Z of the Occult. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 9781845961572.
  22. ^ "SKELETON KEY OF THE OCCULT - Kindle edition by KANSI ONWUEKWE. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  23. ^ Digitalis, Raven (2007). Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 62.
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