Mitch Horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of today’s most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult. He is among the few occult writers whose work touches the bases of academic scholarship, national journalism, and subculture cred. Mitch is a writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library, lecturer-in-residence at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, and a PEN Award-winning historian whose books include Occult America; One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life; and The Miracle Club.
The Washington Post says Mitch “treats esoteric ideas and movements with an even-handed intellectual studiousness that is too often lost in today’s raised-voice discussions.”
He has discussed alternative spirituality across the national media and is collaborating with Emmy-nominated director Ronni Thomas on a feature documentary about the occult classic The Kybalion, shot on location in Egypt. Mitch received the Walden Award for Interfaith/Intercultural Understanding. The Chinese government has censored his work.
Show Notes:
00:05:50 - Mitch’s approach towards his craft 00:09:52 - The origins of thoughts and ideas 00:17:17 - The brain within the metaphysical 00:20:57 - Tapping into an imaginal realm with art 00:29:35 - Being honest with your desires 00:36:10 - Artists going unrecognized 00:42:42 - Being uncompromising in our desires 00:50:06 - Depression and anxiety 00:59:58 - Navigating dark energy 01:06:43 - Free will 01:10:52 - Hypnagogic state 01:18:47 - The pathos of death 01:29:46 - Wrap Up