TY - JOUR
TI - The Vicissitudes of Twentieth Century Hungarian Adepts, from the Austro- Hungarian Monarchy, through World Wars, Revolutions, Communism to Intellectual Liberation
AU - Szönyi, György E.
TI - The Vicissitudes of Twentieth Century Hungarian Adepts, from the Austro- Hungarian Monarchy, through World Wars, Revolutions, Communism to Intellectual Liberation
AB - 
	My paper maps the most important representatives of the occult and esoteric currents in twentieth century Hungary. Their works and tes- timonies encompass the genesis of modern esotericism in Hungary, but their careers also demonstrate the catastrophic watershed caused by fascism and the Second World War, only to be continued (however mostly secretly) during the communist era. The paper first provides an overview of the development of major esoteric trends in modern Hungary (from the late nineteenth century to the time of the regime change in 1989), then focuses on three outstanding seekers of holistic enlightenment: Ervin Baktay (1890‒1963), Béla Hamvas (1897‒1968), Mária Szepes (1908‒2007). All three developed their philosophy after WWI; all were influenced by Theosophy and Indian mysticism; all were scholars of various fields of the humanities, at the same time as being writers of “belle lettres” – poetry as well as fiction. After WWII, all three were looked at with suspicion and were silenced; however, they also found ways of expressing themselves and gathering disciples in various interesting ways.
VL - 2023
IS - 17 (1/2023)
PY - 2023
SN - 2450-2561
C1 - 2450-6249
SP - 33
EP - 52
DO - 10.4467/24506249PJ.23.003.18996
UR - https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/pjacns/artykul/the-vicissitudes-of-twentieth-century-hungarian-adepts-from-the-austro-hungarian-monarchy-through-world-wars-revolutions-communism-to-intellectual-liberation
KW - fikcja ezoteryczna
KW - represje komunistyczne
KW - zachodni ezoteryzm
KW - teozofia
KW - antropozofia
KW - tradycjonalizm
KW - astrologia
KW - Węgry
KW - Ervin Baktay
KW - Béla Hamvas
KW - Mária Szepes