Dr. Mike Rush
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Western Esotericism

My MA Research

The Esoteric Experience: Positive Experential Spirituality or Negative Spiritual Experience?
University of Wales, Lampeter

During my MA I studied the neuropsychology of religious experience and topics related to Western Esotericism, including Ancient Mystery Cults and Jewish Mysticism.

For my dissertation, I undertook a thematic analysis of accounts of spiritual experience from 20th century occultism. I focused on three traditions: Helena Blavatsky's Theosophy, GI Gurdjieff's Fourth Way, and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. I analysed accounts from the literature, contemporary practitioners, and from the archive of the Religious Experience Research Centre.

My MA thesis was supervised by Dr Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and Dr Sarah Jane Boss.

​During my PGDip in Consciousness & Transpersonal Psychology I examined the relationship of Western Esotericism to Transpersonal Psychology. These two studies were subsequently published in the BPS Transpersonal Psychology Review.
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