The philosopher and occult writer Carl du Prel was the most prominent German-language theorist of the unconscious self immediately before Sigmund Freud, who once called du Prel “that brilliant mystic.” Revered by artists like R. M. Rilke, Wassily Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint, du Prel’s writings informed the work of renowned psychologists other than Freud, … Read more
I’m glad to share the news that my contribution to the Oxford Handbook of William James has just appeared in an electronic version ahead of print. William James at a slate-writing seance with the medium Mrs. Walden (probably late 1890s. Image Credit: James papers, Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS.Am.1092.[1]). Chapter summary: James’s open advocacy, practice, … Read more
The Swiss Renaissance physician and natural philosopher Theophrastus von Hohenheim (aka Paracelsus) has been praised as a ‘father’ of modern toxicology by some, and derided as a self-evident pseudoscientist and charlatan by others. Aspects of his supposed and actual ideas have been claimed by humanistic proponents of holistic medicine as well as by Nazism, and … Read more
Those of you who watched my video on Jason Josephson-Storm’s The Myth of Disenchantment know that Jason kindly sent me a complimentary copy of his book as an award for the next winner of the FH Patreon prize draw. The draw has now come to an end, and I’m happy to announce FH supporter Jessica … Read more
I made a new video for you! This and the following videos are based on my first Forbidden Histories article, “The Naturalization of the Poltergeist” (click here to read). Here’s part 1: For those who would like to do their own historical research, here’s an UPDATED BIBLIOGRAPHY with references for the article and both parts … Read more
When the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine in London was still in existence, it was widely regarded the international flagship of medical history and attracted some of the brightest scholars and students from all around the world. One of the people I met there around a decade ago was Yu-chuan Wu from … Read more
Owing to the ongoing pandemic, we’re all grounded. So while we all have been staying at home to “flatten the curve”, I thought I’d make a new video for you. Please enjoy – and if you did, please remember to share, like and subscribe.
Dr. Joanne Edge specialises in late-medieval and early modern European social and cultural history, with an emphasis on medicine and the ‘occult’ sciences: divination, magic and astrology. She did her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of London, and held a four-year postdoctoral position as Assistant Editor on the Casebooks Project at the University … Read more
“You don’t want to mess with Mrs. Sidgwick!”. No Victorian has ever written a statement like this, though it is certainly along the lines of what many contemporaries of Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick were thinking. Born on 11 March 1845 into one of the most politically and intellectually influential families in Britain, Nora (as she was … Read more
Christian Jarrett, an editor at Aeon magazine, approached me after reading my response to a Japanese newspaper query on ghost beliefs in the West last year to commission a short article on a similar topic. I was happy to comply, and my Aeon piece on the hidden history of hallucinations and visions went online in … Read more