Occult America, Mitch Horowitz
Occult America, Mitch Horowitz
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Occult America
The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation

Author: Mitch Horowitz

Narrator: Paul Michael Garcia

Unabridged: 10 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/08/2009

Categories: Nonfiction, History


Synopsis

Americans have long had a fascination with the occult. Now, wellknown writer and expert on the occult Mitch Horowitz presents a meticulously researched, compulsively readable history of the mystical and spiritual experience in our country. Focusing on the impact that the nineteenthcentury movements of Freemasonry, Spiritualism, and transcendentalism have had on America, Horowitz portrays a colorful cast of characters as he explains the origins of the Ouija board, the political influence of Spiritualism on the Senate, and the source of the mysterious slogan on the back of the dollar bill.

About Mitch Horowitz

Mitch Horowitz is a PEN Award-winning historian whose books include Occult America, One Simple Idea, and The Miracle Club. His book Awakened Mind is one of the first works of New Thought translated and published in Arabic. The Chinese government has censored his work.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tamara on January 13, 2012

Having studied esoteric and occult culture for well over half my life, this book doesn't contain anything that I hadn't already read about. However, the author's treatment of his subject matter is a refreshing change from either the condescending manner of skeptical writers or the credulous tone of......more

Goodreads review by Brett on October 01, 2022

Mitch Horowitz did a good job of presenting a historical account of American-based occultism and mysticism. There was a wide range of sects, groups, topics, and belief systems discussed here. The opener was the phenomena of New England that included the Shakers, the Burnt-Over District, Joseph Smith......more

Goodreads review by Raj on March 20, 2010

Mitch Horowitz: Occult America -- The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation (Bantam, 2009) A Review By Raj Ayyar Mitch Horowitz leads us on a fascinating journey through an alternative U.S. history – a landscape peopled with colorful eccentrics, inspired visionaries and self-help savants. Co......more

Goodreads review by Allison on November 05, 2009

I found Occult America to be an absolutely engaging historical account of the spiritual leaders and movements that helped pave the way for Mysticism in the world today. Many people were brought to my attention that I had never before heard of, but have played such a pivotal role in the spiritual mov......more

Goodreads review by Hans on April 24, 2011

Like I mentioned before this is a very superficial introduction to the not-well-known history of the occult in America. It does a decent job of illustrating that Americans do seem to have a bit of a mystical vein. Today is most widely manifest by the popularization of its once "mysterious teachings"......more