I have recently become a Full Member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE), the first society dedicated to the academic study of the history of all aspects of the Western esoteric tradition including the Hermetic Tradition, Rosicrucianism and Paracelsianism, Astrology, Alchemy and Magic. Although exorcism is not currently one of the major research interests of members of ESSWE, it is to be hoped that in future the ‘official magic’ of the church will be considered alongside ceremonial magic, which often drew on the church’s official and semi-official liturgies anyway. ESSWE was founded in Amsterdam in 2005 and hosts a biannual conference, which this year will be in Gothenburg, Sweden.
I am grateful to Dr Peter Forshaw for making me aware of the existence of ESSWE.
