Occult America: The Secret History Of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation by Mitch Horowitz(Book Review)

[icymist]

I saved this book for Thanksgiving weekend because I'd met the author years ago, and I knew it would be a treat. I was right.

Mitch Horowitz is the Editor-in-Chief for Tarcher/Putnam (full disclosure: they published my God's Dictionary in 2002). Mitch has been writing for publications in the intervening years. Every article I've found has been illuminating and deftly written. This book is no exception.

Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation is a treasure trove of little-known and, at the same time, obvious facts. What Mr. Horowitz has done is link the mystical history of the United States into a coherent, fascinating narrative. Being of a mystical bent myself, his words confirmed ideas I'd long harbored though not articulated. I'm so glad he wrote it.

Our story starts in 1693 with German mystic Johannes Kelpius leading a group of outside-the-box thinkers to Philadelphia. Eventually, a psychic highway is established in upstate New York. This locus would be the genesis of much of the mysticism that created America.

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