The academic study of Western esotericism is well into its second decade of professionalization and institutionalization. University departments and study programmes have been established, specialist book series and journals launched, academic societies founded, and several international conferences and panels are organized every year. In addition, scholars in other subdisciplines of religious studies are starting to take notice of the scholarship produced within the field. However, the religious studies scholars who are most likely to take an interest will also notice a striking gap in scholarship on the esoteric: very little research exists on contemporary phenomena. Several contemporary currents that can be regarded as historically and/or typologically related to esotericism have been the focus of scholars in other branches of religious studies. For example, sociologists of new religious movements have debated “New Age spiritualities” for decades, and “pagan studies” has in recent years emerged as its own religious studies subfield. Meanwhile, scholars working in the field of esotericism have (with a few notable exceptions) neglected such developments.

The neglect is largely due to the strong historiographical emphasis in previous research on Western esotericism. Although the professionalization of the field has largely come about within religious studies, major scholarly impulses have come from historians of ideas, historians of science, and historians of art – typically specializing in Renaissance and early modern European culture.