Esoteric Traces in the Formation of Psychoanalysis: Before and After Science

In this fascinating new book, John Boyle provides an in-depth account of the neglected contributions made by Western esotericism in the formation of an occluded ‘psychoanalytic parapsychology’ active within psychoanalysis since its inception, the distinguishing features of which he argues have continued to persist within psychoanalysis to this day.

The book provides a conceptual framework for understanding how the debates between Sigmund Freud, Sándor Ferenczi and Carl Gustav Jung on the role of the ‘occult’ in psychoanalysis contributed to the formation of an ‘Orphic fragmentation’ within psychoanalysis. It argues that the ensuing consequences of these discussions were covertly transmitted to later generations of psychoanalysts in the form of an ‘Orphic trajectory’ encrypted within the main body of psychoanalytic theory and practice.

This book offers new and original insights into the role played by heterodox forms of spirituality in the development of psychoanalysis. It will interest scholars of psychoanalysis and religion as well as those with a general interest in the role of the spiritual in contemporary psychoanalysis and psychology.