Bythe mid-to-late nineteenth century, modern occultism drew upon ideals, imagery, and drama of antiquity — remade in light of humanity’s hopes, wishes, and strivings in the Industrial Era.
Seen from one perspective, mechanistic forces appeared to rule the world. Darwin’s theories on the orderly biologic development of life were published in 1859.
But to a cohort of rebels, seekers, romantics, occultists, and esotericists, there existed a substory. To them, the individual was an unruly being possessed of self-determining qualities. One of the great figures on the modern scene to explore this view was American ceremonial magician Pascal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875).