The triumph of science would appear to have routed all other explanations of reality. No longer does astrology or alchemy or magic have the power to explain the world to us. Yet at one time each of these systems of belief, like religion, helped illuminate what was dark to human understanding. Nor have these occult arts disappeared. We spend much of our time in darkness and in dreams, and though we may prefer solid ground beneath our feet, our need for mystery and a sense of the infinite remains. Magic, Mystery, and Science tells the story of the occult as a "third stream" of belief, as important to the shaping of Western civilization as Greek rationalism and Judeo-Christianity. The occult seeks explanations in a world that is -- unlike the one supposed by science -- living and intelligent. By taking these beliefs seriously (and keeping an eye on contemporary science), this book aims to capture some of the power of the occult. From the Egyptian Book of the Dead to New Age beliefs, from Plato to Hitler, occult ways of knowing have been used -- and hideously abused -- to explain a world that still tempts us with the knowledge of its dark secrets.

1. Egyptians and the Occult
2. Magic and Miracles
3. Numerology, the Cabala, and Alchemy
4. Astrology: The Starry Heavens Above
5. Ancient Evil
6. Satan, Demons, and Jinn
7. Witches and Witch-Hunts in the West
8. Spirits, Science, and Pseudo-Science in the Nineteenth Century
9. New Age Preludes: Up the Garden Path?
10. ESP and PSI Phenomena
11. Nazism and Ancestral German Memories
12. UFOs and Alien Abductions
13. Gnosticism, Old and New
14. NDEs, New Age, and New Physics