We have an exciting event coming up! In June, RENSEP will visit the Amsterdam-bound Centre for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (HHP) to discuss potential opportunities for collaboration. During our stay in the Netherlands, trustees Bernd-Christian Otto and Andrea Centore will give a talk at the HHP to present RENSEP’s mission and its platform.

We are very excited to join forces with the HHP not only because of the great work the Centre has done for the advancements of the study of esotericism but also because of the great scholars that work within it. The HHP’s staff comprises true experts within the field, such as Marco Pasi, Wouter Hanegraaff, Peter Forshaw, Liana Saif and Dylan Burns.

This talk will take place on June 8th at 18:15 in the Doelenzaal (University of Amsterdam Singel Library) and will last 45 minutes plus 15 minutes afterwards to answer all your questions.

All UvA staff, students and aspiring PhD candidates, from all departments, are welcome to attend. The study of esoteric practices is an interdisciplinary endeavour and so holds relevance for a wide range of scholars and students, such as those within the fields of religious studies, history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science.

About The HHP

The HHP was established in 1999 as a subdepartment of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The idea and initiative to establish this centre originated with Mrs. Drs. Rosalie Basten. When she studied philosophy at the University of Amsterdam she had been interested in Hermetic philosophy and its historical development for many years, but to her disappointment discovered that no such subject was being taught. Mrs. Basten found this rather odd, given the presence of the renowned Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam, containing the world’s most complete collection of Hermetic source materials and a wealth of related documents.

What a waste to not establish a university teaching curriculum and academic research program to study these rare materials, right? And so, Mrs. Basten decided to provide the financial means to make such a study possible and to fill this lacuna. Her incredibly generous donation was made to an independent and newly created foundation, which signed an agreement with the UvA to establish the HHP.

The HHP’s research and teaching programs are “independent of any worldview,” ensuring the professional and intellectual independence essential to academic research. The HHP Centre, which is part of the department for “History, European Studies and Religious Studies” of the Faculty of Humanities, participates in the teaching programs of Religious Studies and offers a curriculum that focuses on the history of (Western) Esotericism. The Centre and the UvA offer a Dutch BA programme (Religiewetenschappen), an English master’s programme called Spirituality and Religion, and an English Research Master’s in Religious Studies.

RENSEP recently entered a collaboration with the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). This science-driven institute carries the mission to reveal the interconnected nature of reality through scientific exploration and personal discovery.

The institute, situated in US California, was established in 1973 by Apollo 14 mission member Dr Edgar Mitchell (1930-2016). Mitchell, who was the sixth person to walk on the moon, founded the IONS after his life-changing trip to study the lunar surface. His motivations are described on The IONS website. Where it states how Mitchell, on his journey back to Earth, became cloaked in a profound sense of universal connectedness while he peered at our home amidst the vastness of space. Mitchell’s experience led him to establish the IONS in 1973. The work he started continues today by the IONS, where they “use the power of science to explore our inner space, understanding that both objective knowledge and subjective knowing are necessary for a more complete understanding.”

RENSEP is very fortunate to have IONS’s Chief Scientist, Dr Dean Radin, as a member of RENSEP’s Scientific Committee. Not only that, but we also recently awarded a research grant to the IONS for the conduction of a scientific experimental study to test the use and efficacy of sigils in a mind-matter interaction task using an Internet of Things (IoT). Both advanced and inexperienced practitioners of sigil magic will participate in this study. Furthermore, these practitioners will be selected with the aid of RENSEP’s practitioner community.

The study, led by Radin, has begun in mid-March of this year and will take approximately 18 months. Updates on the developments of this study will be published on RENSEP. So, join our platform and not miss a thing!