Henrik Bogdan teaches in the Department of Religious Studies and Theology at Göteborg University in Sweden.

List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Western Esotericism

           Introduction
           The Delimitation of a Field of Research
           The Research Paradigms of Western Esotericism
           Western Esotericism in Theory and Practice
           Western Esoteric Currents
           Western Esoteric Rituals of Initiation
           Concluding Remarks

2. Rituals of Initiation, Secret Societies, and Masonic Initiatory Societies

           Ritual as a Field of Research
           Rites de Passage
           Rites of Initiation
           Secret Societies
           Secrecy and Masonic Initiatory Societies
           Masonic Initiatory Societies
           Masonic Rituals of Initiation
           Eighteenth-Century Masonic Terminology
           Concluding Remarks

3. Historical Background

           Ancient and Medieval Sources
           The "New Platonic Academy" of Florence
           The Spread of Western Esotericism Across Europe
           The Esoteric Missions of Giordano Bruno and John Dee
           Christian Rosencreutz and the Rosicrucian Manifestos
           Concluding Remarks

4. The Craft Degrees of Freemasonry

           The Emergence of Freemasonry
           Early Freemasonry and Western Esotericism
           The Pre-1730 Ritual Evidence
           The Master Mason Degree and the Ritual Enactment of the Hiramic Legend
           Concluding Remarks

5. High or Additional Degrees of Freemasonry

           Introduction
           Templar and Ecossais Rites
           Egyptian Rites
           "Esoteric" Freemasonry
           True Mason, or Académie des Vrais Maçons
           Concluding Remarks

6. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

           Introduction
           History
           A Note on Sources
           Description of the Neophyte Ritual
           Analysis of the Neophyte Ritual
           Concluding Remarks

7. Modern Pagan Witchcraft or Wicca

           Gerald Gardner and the Birth of Wicca
           The Crowley Connection
           Gardner and the Witchcraft Rituals of Initiation
           First Degree: Witch and Priest/Priestess
           The First Degree Initiation
           Second Degree: High Priest/Priestess
           Third Degree: High Priest/Priestess
           Concluding Remarks

8. Conclusions

Appendix
Notes
References
Index