Book description
London, more than any other city, has a secret history concealed
from view. Behind the official façade promoted by the heritage
industry, lies a city of esoteric traditions and obscure institutions,
of lost knowledge and hidden locations. Occult London rediscovers this
hidden history, unearthing the secret city and its forgotten
inhabitants. Encompassing a historical panorama from the Elizabethan
age to the present day, we are introduced to the magic of Dr Dee and
Simon Forman, the rise of the Kabbalah and the occult designs of Wren
and Hawksmoor. Elsewhere we meet figures such as Spring-Heeled Jack
and the Highgate Vampyre, and occult organizations from the Invisible
College to the Golden Dawn. Today a concern for such hidden traditions
has returned and Merlin Coverley explores this revival of interest in
the occult tradition, one that accords well with emerging New Age
philosophies, the interest in London's Ley Lines, in alternative
histories and psychogeography.
