Abstract Traditionalism, usually associated with Sufism following the examples of René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon, took an unusual Hermetic form in Spain under the leadership of Federico González Frías (1933–2014). González, originally from Argentina, established the Barcelona-based Center for the Study of Symbology during Spain’s democratic Transition, when interest in spiritual alternatives flourished. Rejecting both Sufism and Schuon’s Maryamiyya, González developed a distinctive “Hermetic” Traditionalism that emphasized symbolism, alchemy, Kabbalah, and Western esoteric traditions. His teachings, consolidated in the Agartha Program, combined perennialist philosophy with Hermetic practice and were extended through Freemasonry, publications, and initiatic theater. This article explores the origins, development, and reception of González’s movement, situating it as the only known case of Hermetic Traditionalism and assessing its relationship to Guénonian orthodoxy and Spain’s historical context.
Abstract This article discusses the reception and adaptation of Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg’s thought in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Japan. It situates this reception in the context of Japanese esoteric thought during the Meiji era. Japanese intellectuals called Swedenborg the world’s greatest theologian, even the Buddha of the North. Yet his importance to Meiji-era intellectual life remains underconsidered in esotericism studies. This article first illuminates how Deguchi Onisaburō, co-founder of the Ōmoto faith, applied Swedenborg’s teachings in uniquely Japanese contexts while pursuing the goal of introducing the entire world to its primordial ancestry in Japan. The article then sketches some of the Buddhist interpretations of Swedenborg, which Deguchi used to elucidate his reading. The article introduces a combined discourse by applying both Buddhist and Shintoist perspectives to Swedenborgian studies. It aims to encourage more scholars of esotericism to consider East Asian receptions of Western esoteric thinkers.
