S2 #40 / Phil Hine on Chakras and western esotericism

Spirit Box

Today we welcome Phil Hine back to the show to discuss his new book; Wheels within wheels.
Phil has been a practising Occultist for over forty-five years, with a career spanning Wicca, Ritual Magic, Chaos Magic and nondual Tantra. Together with Rodney Orpheus he co-created and edited the UK’s first monthly Pagan magazine, Pagan News (1988-92).

His books include: Condensed Chaos, Prime Chaos, The Pseudonomicon, Hine’s Varieties: Chaos & Beyond, Acts of Magical Resistance and Queerying Occultures. In 2019 he founded Twisted Trunk, a small press specializing in publishing translations of rare Tantric texts.”

Wheels within Wheels examines the passage of chakras into Western Esotericism. Beginning with an overview of how chakras were conceptualized in early tantric traditions, Phil Hine traces how chakras captured the imagination of both Indian and European Theosophists in the late 19th century. He explores their appearance in the early Western Esoteric imagination, from the Christian mysticism of James M. Pryse to the practical exercises of Aleister Crowley. He examines the influence of Sir John Woodroffe’s The Serpent Power and the writings of Charles Webster Leadbeater, and how chakras were psychologized in the work of Jung, to their role in contemporary therapy culture.

Show notes:

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wheels-within-Chakras-Western-Esotericism/dp/1916236685/
Info on book: https://enfolding.org/new-for-2024-wheels-within-wheels-chakras-and-western-esotericism/
Newsletter: https://enfolding.org/unfoldings-a-substack-newsletter/
Book Launch: https://www.treadwells-london.com/events-1/phil-hine-chakra-book-launch-talk-and-party
Leadbeater Scandal: https://enfolding.org/tag/leadbeater/
Phil's blog: http://enfolding.org
Hands of Light: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18420.Hands_of_Light

Keep in touch? https://linktr.ee/darraghmason Music by Obliqka https://soundcloud.com/obliqka