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Liber XV · History & Scholarship

Liber XV · History & Scholarship · Chapter III: Historians & Scholars

Correspondences Journal: Open-Access Esotericism Studies

Correspondences, the open-access peer-reviewed journal for the study of esotericism launched in 2013: its founding, scope and place in the field.

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Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism is a peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal launched in 2013. Founded by a small group of early-career scholars, it publishes historical and analytical research on esoteric currents from alchemy and Hermeticism to Theosophy, Spiritualism and modern witchcraft, and makes every article free to read, with no charges to authors. It became the second major journal of the field, alongside the Brill journal Aries.

The field's journals before 2013§

When Correspondences appeared, the academic study of esotericism had only a few specialised outlets. The most important was Aries, founded in Paris in 1983 by Antoine Faivre and Roland Edighoffer and relaunched in 2001 by Brill as Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism; its history is told in our article on the Aries journal. As a subscription journal from a commercial academic publisher, Aries was widely held by university libraries but not easily accessible to independent scholars, students outside major universities, or interested general readers.

Other venues covered parts of the field. The online journal Esoterica, edited by Arthur Versluis at Michigan State University from 1999, published essays on Western esoteric traditions; The Pomegranate, founded in 1997, served the study of contemporary Paganism; and the Journal for the Academic Study of Magic, from 2003, focused on magic and occultism. Much research also appeared in general journals of religious studies, history and literature. A peer-reviewed journal devoted to esotericism as a whole, and freely available to all, did not yet exist.

Founding Correspondences in 2013§

Correspondences was launched in 2013 by early-career researchers, with Aren Roukema and Jimmy Elwing as its founding editors. Their aim, as they explained in early interviews, was to provide a rigorous peer-reviewed outlet that anyone could read, and to give younger scholars a place to publish alongside established ones. The journal's first issues appeared online in 2013, and it has published regularly since.

The founders belonged to the first generation trained in a field that by then had its own chairs, master's programmes and learned society. That generation took for granted the historical, non-confessional approach developed by Antoine Faivre and Wouter Hanegraaff, and many were also familiar with the open-access movement that had grown in the sciences since the early 2000s. Correspondences brought the two together.

The journal's title is apt. The doctrine of correspondences, the idea that every level of reality mirrors the others, "as above, so below", is one of the defining ideas of esoteric thought, discussed in our guide to correspondences. In naming the journal after it, the editors signalled their subject while also suggesting dialogue between disciplines and scholars.

Open access and the "diamond" model§

Correspondences is published under a model often called "diamond" or "platinum" open access. Readers pay nothing to read articles, and authors pay nothing to submit or publish. Articles are released under a Creative Commons licence that allows non-commercial sharing, and authors keep their copyright. The journal is indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals and in RelBib, the bibliography of religious studies maintained by the university library at Tübingen, and its contents are archived for long-term preservation.

Running a journal without fees or subscriptions depends on volunteer editorial work and outside support. The European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) funded the journal's hosting and database costs between 2016 and 2018 through its programme for independent scholarly initiatives; our article on ESSWE describes the society. The journal has otherwise relied on third-party support rather than on a commercial publisher.

For a field whose subject matter attracts many readers outside the university, the model has particular value. People interested in alchemy, the tarot or Theosophy can read current peer-reviewed research directly, rather than relying on popular books that often repeat outdated or legendary history.

Scope, method and contents§

The journal describes its subject as the academic study of esotericism and welcomes contributions from history, religious studies, sociology, anthropology, art history, philosophy, literature and media studies. It covers the full chronological range of the field, though with a strong representation of the modern and contemporary periods.

Articles published over the years have treated, among other subjects, Renaissance and early modern alchemy and Hermeticism, Rosicrucian and Masonic currents, nineteenth-century occultism and Spiritualism, the Theosophical Society, modern ceremonial magic, contemporary witchcraft and Paganism, and esoteric themes in literature, film and music. Each year the journal normally publishes a guest-edited special issue on a theme in addition to its general issue, and it posts accepted articles in advance of the full issue.

The editorial policy favours analytical over advocative approaches. Like Aries and ESSWE, Correspondences does not judge whether esoteric beliefs are true; it asks how they arose, how they were transmitted and practised, and how they relate to the wider history of religion, science and culture. This distinguishes it from journals published by esoteric organisations, which may also contain valuable material but serve different purposes.

A new generation and its questions§

The 2010s, when Correspondences was founded, were a period of lively debate about the shape of the field, and the journal's early-career contributors were well placed to take part. Several questions recurred in the discussions of that generation.

  • Global esotericism. Historians such as Julian Strube argued that esoteric currents had always circulated between Europe, South Asia, the Islamic world and the Americas, so that a purely "Western" frame distorted their history.
  • Cognition and experience. Scholars including Egil Asprem and Ann Taves proposed cognitive and psychological approaches to visions, trance and ritual, asking how esoteric experiences are produced and interpreted.
  • Modern and popular culture. Younger researchers turned to occultism in film, music, comics, games and online communities, subjects older scholarship had often neglected.
  • Gender and power. The role of women as founders, mediums, authors and leaders, from Spiritualism to modern witchcraft, received sustained attention.

An open-access journal with a broad scope and a tradition of guest-edited special issues was a natural home for such work. In this sense Correspondences is not only a publication but a record of how the field's second generation redrew its boundaries.

Place in the field§

Correspondences filled a gap in the infrastructure of esotericism studies. It offered a second high-quality venue at a time when the number of doctoral students and early-career researchers was growing quickly, after the founding of the Amsterdam chair and other programmes. It also made the field's research visible to a much larger readership than a subscription journal could reach.

Its existence reflects a broader change. A discipline that began with a handful of specialists around a single Paris chair now had enough scholars to sustain several journals, a book series, a learned society and regular conferences, and a younger generation able to build its own institutions. Our guide to historians and scholars of esotericism sets the journal among the field's other centres and publications.

Frequently asked questions§

What is the journal Correspondences?§

Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism is a peer-reviewed academic journal launched in 2013. It publishes research on esoteric currents from many disciplines and is freely available online.

Is Correspondences free to read?§

Yes. It is a fully open-access journal that charges neither readers nor authors. Its articles are released under a Creative Commons non-commercial licence.

How is Correspondences different from Aries?§

Aries, published by Brill since 2001, is a subscription journal associated with ESSWE. Correspondences is independent, open access and was founded by early-career scholars, though both share the same historical approach.

Sources and further reading§