GENDER IN MYSTICAL AND OCCULT THOUGHT

This is the first comprehensive account of the development of the ideas on gender
of Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) among his English followers, tracing the changes in
gender and sexuality in such esoteric traditions as alchemy, hermeticism and the
Cabala.

The book argues that Behmenist thought in these areas is a neglected aspect of
the revision in the moral status of women during the early modern period,
contributing significantly to the rise of the Romantic notion of womanhood and
'Victorian' sexual ideology.

It deals with English Behmenism from its reception
during the Interregnum through to its impact upon William Blake and the
Swedenborgians in the cighteenth century. The book also challenges strongly
received opinions on the relationship of Behmenism to the English radical
tradition.