Archive topic

Occult & Esoteric Culture

Browse matching articles and case files from the archive.

Occult & Esoteric Culture25 entries
The Voynich Manuscript: A Book That Refuses to Become Plain feature image

Occult & Esoteric Culture

The Voynich Manuscript: A Book That Refuses to Become Plain

The Voynich Manuscript is a real medieval codex filled with undeciphered writing, strange plants and diagrams that keep attracting scholars, codebreakers and dreamers.

uncertainpublicBeinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale UniversityEarly 15th century manuscript; modern fame from 20th century
The Fox Sisters: Rappings, Performance and the Sound of Belief feature image

Occult & Esoteric Culture

The Fox Sisters: Rappings, Performance and the Sound of Belief

The Fox sisters' spirit raps helped launch modern Spiritualism, then became a lesson in performance, grief, confession and belief that survives exposure.

hoaxpublicHydesville and Rochester, New York1848 onward; public confession in 1888
The Hope Diamond Curse: A Jewel, a Rumour and a Sales Pitch feature image

Occult & Esoteric Culture

The Hope Diamond Curse: A Jewel, a Rumour and a Sales Pitch

The Hope Diamond is real, spectacular and historically traceable; the curse attached to it is better read as media folklore and gem-market theatre.

folklorepublicSmithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.Legend built especially in the 19th and 20th centuries
The Hidden Logic of Occult Almanacs feature image

Occult & Esoteric Culture

The Hidden Logic of Occult Almanacs

An original field essay on occult almanacs and the ordinary conditions that make it feel charged.

folklorepublicBookshops, libraries and private collections16th-20th century
The Hidden Logic of Cursed Jewellery feature image

Occult & Esoteric Culture

The Hidden Logic of Cursed Jewellery

An original field essay on cursed jewellery and the ordinary conditions that make it feel charged.

folklorepublicHomes, auctions and museum casesAncient to modern