Occult America

White House Seances, Ouija Circles, Masons, and the Secret Mystic History of Our Nation

By: Mitch Horowitz

Narrated by: Mitch Horowitz

Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

“Fascinating . . . a serious, wide-ranging study of all the magical, mystical, and spiritual movements that have arisen and influenced American history in often-surprising ways.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post Book World

“A treasure trove.”—HuffPost

From its inception, America served as an arena for the revolutions in alternative spirituality that eventually swept the globe. Esoteric philosophies and personas—from Freemasonry to Spiritualism, from Madame H. P. Blavatsky to Edgar Cayce—dramatically altered the nation’s culture, politics, and religion. Yet the mystical roots of our identity are often ignored or overlooked. In Occult America, a leading writer on the subject of alternative spirituality brings it out of the shadows. Here is a rich, fascinating, and colorful history of a religious revolution and an epic of offbeat history.

From the meaning of the symbols on the one-dollar bill to the origins of the Ouija board, Occult America briskly sweeps from the nation’s earliest days to the birth of the New Age era and traces many people and episodes, including:

• The spirit medium who became America’s first female religious leader in 1776

• The supernatural passions that marked the career of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith

• The rural Sunday-school teacher whose clairvoyant visions instigated the dawn of the New Age

• The prominence of mind-power mysticism in the black-nationalist politics of Marcus Garvey

• The Idaho druggist whose mail-order mystical religion ranked as the eighth-largest faith in the world during the Great Depression

Opening a new window on the past, Occult America presents a dramatic, pioneering study of the mysterious undercurrents of our history and their profound impact across modern life.

©2009 Mitch Horowitz (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"What a fascinating book. So it happens that another equally compelling take on our complicated national narrative lies just beneath the surface of things; not the grand procession of presidents, generals, and wars, but something more hidden, more mysterious, but often no less revealing."—Ken Burns

“Invisible and mysterious forces have shaped and guided the destiny of individuals and nations throughout history. From Moses to Gandhi, Jesus to Muhammad, Lincoln to Obama, hidden dimensions, in both our personal and collective consciousness, were conceiving, constructing, and shaping the course of civilization. In his precise and often detailed history of mysticism in America, Mitch Horowitz, has, in a way, tracked the evolution of our consciousness over 300 years.”—Deepak Chopra

"A sparkling, down-to-earth and often deeply touching account of a powerful, much misunderstood force in the formation of America's cultural and spiritual identity."—Jacob Needleman, author of The American Soul and The New Religions."

Horowitz’s Voice Elevates His Great Work

Somehow, simply having the author of this historical study on America’s deep occult roots, makes this audiobook all the more intriguing, insightful, and relevant.

Many Insights Shared - Fascinating and Enlightening

The high level of scholarship and research that Mitch Horowitz dedicates to the subject matter, which illuminates the strains of occult practices that run through the history of the United States, is impressive. I learned so much.

Good historic overview

The author gives a nice historic overview of occult movements in the US, selecting main characters (so to speak) of various groups and thought systems. He nods at the fact that many of these systems are similar, gives context to the movements, and describes how they impacted larger American life through politics, literature, policy, etc. It was a great slice of the American history pie you don’t get at school.