Occultism is one form of mysticism.[a] This list comprises and encompasses people, both contemporary and historical, who are or were professionally or otherwise notably involved in occult practices, including alchemists, astrologers, some Kabbalists,[b] magicians, psychics, sorcerers, and practitioners some forms of divination, especially Tarot. People who were or are merely believers of occult practices should not be included unless they played a leading or otherwise significant part in the practice of occultism.
Antiquity
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People professionally or notably involved in occultism prior to the Middle Ages
- Agathodaemon – Egyptian alchemist
- Apsethus the Libyan – Ancient Libyan occultist[1]
- Atomus – Cypriot magician (1st century)
- Chu Fu – Chinese Han dynasty occultist (d. 130 BC)
- Chymes – Greco-Roman alchemist
- Cleopatra the Alchemist – Egyptian alchemist and writer
- Saint Cyprian the Magician — 4th-century sorcerer from Antioch[2]
- Elymas – Jewish magus depicted in the Acts of the Apostles[3]
- Epigenes of Byzantium – 3rd-century BC Greek astrologer
- Fang – Earliest recorded woman alchemist in China
- Gan De – 4th-century BC Chinese astronomer and astrologer
- Hermes Trismegistus – Legendary author of the Hermetica[4]
- Iamblichus – Syrian Neoplatonist philosopher (c. 245 – c. 325)[5]
- Jannes and Jambres – Magicians mentioned in the Book of Exodus
- Jesus – Jesus as a historical person[c]
- Julian – Roman emperor from 361 to 363
- Mary the Jewess – First Western alchemist (1st century)[6]
- Menander – First century Samaritan Gnostic
- Moses – Prophet in Abrahamic religions[7]
- Moses of Alexandria – Early alchemist
- Nigidius Figulus – Roman philosopher and writer
- Ostanes – Pen-name used by several pseudo-anonymous authors of Greek and Latin works of alchemy
- Paphnutia the Virgin – Egyptian alchemist
- Pseudo-Aristotle – Cognomen for authors of works falsely attributed to Aristotle
- Pseudo-Democritus – Anonymous author(s) of works falsely attributed to Democritus
- Ptolemy – Roman astronomer and geographer (c. 100–170)[8]
- Pythagoras – Greek philosopher (c. 570 – c. 495 BC)[9]
- Shi Shen – Chinese astronomer and astrologer
- Sima Qian – Chinese historian (c. 145 – c. 86 BC)
- Sima Tan – Chinese astrologer and historian (c. 165–110 BCE)
- Simon Magus – Religious figure who confronted Peter[10][11]
- Synesius – Ancient Greek bishop and alchemist
- Theoris of Lemnos – 4th-century BC Greek woman
- Wei Boyang – Chinese alchemist and writer
- Witch of Endor – Biblical sorceress
- Xu Fu – Chinese alchemist and explorer
- Zhang Jue – Chinese Yellow Turban Rebellion leader (died 184)[12]
- Zhongli Chun – Chinese occultist and consort of the King Xuan of Qi (r. 342–324 BC)
- Zoroaster – Founder of Zoroastrianism, reputed inventor of magic and astrology (c. 1000 BC) in legend
- Zosimos of Panopolis – Alchemist of the 3rd century CE[13]
Middle Ages
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People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the Middle Ages (circa 500–1500)
- Abramelin the Mage – Egyptian sage (c. 1362–1458)[14]
- Albertus Magnus – German-Dominican friar and saint (c. 1200–1280)
- Roger Bacon – English polymath, philosopher and friar (c.1219/20–c.1292)
- Roger Bolingbroke – Astrologer and alleged necromancer, executed as witch[15]
- Gentile Budrioli – 15th-century Italian astrologist and healer
- Johannes Lauratius de Fundis – medieval Italian astrologer and astronomer
- Marsilio Ficino – Italian astrologer and translator of the Corpus Hermeticum (1433–1499)[16]
- Nicolas Flamel – French public scribe (1330–1418)[17][9]
- Jābir ibn Hayyān – Islamic alchemist and polymath
- John of Nottingham – 14th-century English magician
- Judah Loew ben Bezalel – Czech rabbi and Kabbalist (d. 1609), reputed to have practiced Practical Kabbalah
- Myrddin Wyllt – Welsh poet and astrologer (b. 540 CE)
- Giovanni Pico della Mirandola – Italian Renaissance philosopher (1463–1494)
- Pietro d'Abano – Italian philosopher and astrologer
- Pseudo-Solomon – Anonymous author(s) of works falsely attributed to Solomon
- Michael Scot – Scottish mathematician and scholar (1175–c.1232)[18]
16th century
People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 16th century
- Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), occult philosopher, astrologer
- Giordano Bruno (1548–1600),[19] occult philosopher
- Cosimo Ruggeri (fl. 1571–1615), Italian astrologer and occultist
- John Dee (1527–1608), occult philosopher, mathematician, alchemist, queen Elizabeth's advisor[9]
- Edward Kelley (1555–1597), spirit medium and alchemist who worked with John Dee, founder of Enochian magic[9]
- John Lambe (1545–1628), astrologer to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
- Nostradamus (1503–1566),[20] one of the world's most famous prophets[9]
- Paracelsus (1493–1541), medical pioneer and occult philosopher
- Henry Percy (1563-1632),[21] "Wizard Earl"
- Johannes Reuchlin (1545–1622), German cabalist magician, summoned angels
- Soulmother of Küssnacht (d. 1577), Swiss medium
- Johannes Trithemius (1462–1516),[22] cryptographer and magical writer
- Johann Weyer (aka Johannes Wierus) (1515–1588), German physician, occultist and demonologist
17th century
People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 17th century
- Elias Ashmole (1617–1692), the first known speculative Freemason
- Olaus Borrichius (1626–1690), Danish alchemist
- Jacob Bruce (1669–1735), Russian general, statesman, diplomat, scientist and alchemist and magician of Scottish descent Clan Bruce, one of the chief associates of Peter the Great
- Arthur Dee (1575–1661), Hermetic writer, son of John Dee
- Robert Fludd (1574–1637), occult philosopher and astrologer
- Isobel Gowdie (d. 1662), self-confessed professional sorcerer
- Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726), English physicist and alchemist[23]
- Ali Puli (17th century), anonymous author of seventeenth-century alchemical and Hermetic texts
- Gironima Spana (1615–1659), Italian astrologer
- La Voisin (1640–1680), French professional magician
18th century
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People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the Age of Enlightenment (18th century)
- Ulrica Arfvidsson (1734–1801), politically influential Swedish fortune-teller
- Gustaf Björnram (1746–1804), Swedish spiritual medium
- Alessandro Cagliostro (1743–1795),[24] Italian occultist
- Clotilde-Suzanne Courcelles de Labrousse (1747–1821), French prophet medium
- Antoine Court de Gebelin (1725–1784), connected tarot and esotericism
- Etteilla (1738–1791), fortune-teller
- Marie Kingué (fl. 1785), African kaperlata occultist and faith healer
- Marie-Anne de La Ville (1680–1725), French occultist
- Count of St. Germain (dl. 1784), alchemist and occultist[9]
- Höffern (fl. 1722), German-Swedish fortune teller
- Henrietta Lullier (1716–1782), French fortune teller
- Franz Mesmer (1734–1815), German magnetist
- August Nordenskiold (1754–1792), alchemist and Swedenborgian
- Charlotta Roos (1771–1809), Swedish spiritual medium
- Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin (1743–1803), founder of Martinism, writer known as the Unknown Philosopher
- Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772),[25] alchemist, founder of Swedenborgianism
- Henrik Gustaf Ulfvenklou (1756–1819), Swedish spiritual medium
- Raimondo di Sangro – Italian nobleman, inventor, soldier, writer, scientist, alchemist and freemason
19th century
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People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 19th century
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- Evangeline Adams (1868–1932), astrologer to the famous
- Francis Barrett (c. 1770 – fl. 1802), wrote The Magus, a book about magic
- Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym (1765–1851), French demonologist
- Pierre Bernard (1875–1955), American occultist, businessman and yogi popularly known as "Oom The Omnipotent"
- Annie Besant (1847–1933), British writer, socialist and occultist[26][27]
- Algernon Blackwood (1869–1951), member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891), founder of Theosophy
- Alexander Mikhaylovich Butlerov (Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Бу́тлеров; 1828–1886), Russian occultist
- Mary Emily Bates Coues (1835–1906), secretary, Woman's National Liberal Union
- Ida C. Craddock (1857–1902), occultist, writer, member of Theosophical Society
- Andrew Jackson Davis (1826–1910), American occultist
- Robert Felkin (1853–1926), medical missionary and explorer, member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Stella Matutina, writer on Africa and medicine
- A. Frank Glahn (1865–1941), German mystic
- Stanislas de Guaita (1861–1899), occult writer
- Arnold Krumm-Heller (1876–1949), Rosicrucian founder of FRA
- John George Hohman (fl. 1802–1846), American wizard
- Allan Kardec (1804–1869), founder of Spiritism
- William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874–1950), served as the 10th prime minister of Canada and was secretly into the occult
- Giuliano Kremmerz (1861–1930), alchemist and occult writer
- Giustiniano Lebano – Italian lawyer and patriot (1832–1910)
- Marie Laveau (1801–1881), American New Orleans Voodoo practitioner
- Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934), occult writer and influential member of the Theosophical Society Adyar[28]
- Marie Anne Lenormand (1772–1843), French fortune-teller favoured by Joséphine de Beauharnais
- Eliphas Lévi (1810–1875), French occult writer and ceremonial magician[9]
- Guido von List (1848–1919), Austrian writer and mystic
- Arthur Machen (1863–1947), member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Moina Mathers (1865–1928), first initiate in Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, wife of S.L. MacGregor Mathers, and Imperatrix of the Alpha et Omega
- Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Damodar K. Mavalankar (1857–1885), Indian theosophist
- Wolf Messing (1899–1964), Polish Russian occultists, stage mentalist
- Papus, pseudonym for Gérard Encausse (1865–1916), occult writer
- Jacques Collin de Plancy (1793–1871), French occultist, demonologist and writer
- Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875), African American physician and sex magician
- Anna Rasmussen (1898–1983), Danish medium, psychic
- Grigori Rasputin (1869–1916), Russian mystic and healer
- Carl Reichenbach (1788–1869), German occultist
- Theodor Reuss (1855–1923), German mason
- August Strindberg (1849–1912), dramatist, alchemist
- Max Théon (1848–1927), occultist, Kabbalist, founder of the Cosmic Movement
- Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941), occultist, writer, particular Christian mysticism; member of GD
- Arthur Edward Waite (1857–1941), occult writer and member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- William Wynn Westcott (1848–1925), cofounder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Julius Evola – Italian radical-right philosopher and esotericist (1898–1974)
- Karl Maria Wiligut (1866–1946), Austrian occultist
- Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1886–1945), member of A.E. Waite's the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, 1929–1939
- William Butler Yeats (1865–1934), poet, astrologer, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
20th century
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People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 20th century
- Mirra Alfassa (1878–1971), Indian poet and mystic
- Kenneth Anger (1927–2023), filmmaker, writer, and Thelemite
- Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki (born 1929), occultist, occult writer, teacher
- Alice Bailey (1880–1949), English writer, mystic and Theosophist[29]
- Franz Bardon (1909–1958), occult writer, magician
- Frank Bennett (1868–1930), Australian chemist who was disciple of occultist Aleister Crowley
- Carl William Hansen (1872 - 1936), Danish farmer and occultist
- Michael Bertiaux (born 1935), author of the Voudon Gnostic Workbook, occult artist
- Kerry Bolton (born 1956), New Zealand neo-Nazi activist and writer
- William Breeze (born 1955), writer, musician, patriarch of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, and caliph of Ordo Templi Orientis; also known as Hymenaeus Beta
- William S. Burroughs (1914–1997), Beat writer
- W. E. Butler (1898–1978), esoteric writer
- Marjorie Cameron (1922–1995), scarlet woman of Jack Parsons' rituals, artist, actress
- Peter J. Carroll (born 1953), occultist, writer, founder of chaos magic
- Constant Chevillon (1880–1944), head of FUDOFSI
- Chic Cicero (born 1936), esoteric writer, magician, Imperator of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc.
- Sandra Tabatha Cicero (born 1959), esoteric writer, magician, Cancellaria of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc.
- Pamela Colman Smith (1878–1951), artist, painted the Rider–Waite tarot deck, member of the Hermetic order of the Golden Dawn
- D. J. Conway (1939–2019), occult writer
- Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), English occultist and ceremonial magician, founder of Thelema religion[30][9]
- Jinx Dawson (born 1950), ceremonial magician, artist, founder of rock band Coven, recording artist
- Savitri Devi (1905–1982), Greek writer on Hinduism, Nazi spy and leading figure of Esoteric Nazism
- Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961), American modernist poet, known under the pseudonym H.D.[31]
- Gerina Dunwich (born 1959), witch and occult writer
- Lon Milo DuQuette (born 1948), musician, lecturer, and occultist
- Julius Evola (1898–1974), Italian philosopher
- Dion Fortune (1890–1946), considered one of Great Britain's most famous occultists,[9] founder of the Fraternity of the Inner Light
- Jeanne Robert Foster (1879–1970), American occultist, Theosophist, and poet
- Paul Foster Case (1884–1954), founder of BOTA, adept of the Western mystery tradition, teacher, occult writer
- Fulcanelli, French alchemist and esoteric writer[9]
- J. F. C. Fuller (1878–1966), British senior Army officer, military historian, and strategist[32]
- Henri Gamache (fl. 1940s), authority on the Evil Eye
- Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884–1964), British witch, writer, father of modern Witcharft A.K.A. Wicca, latter denominated Gardnerian Wicca.
- Karl Germer (1885–1962), German and American businessman and occultist, US representative of Ordo Templi Orientis
- Sallie Ann Glassman (born 1954), practitioner of Haitian Vodou
- Rudolf John Gorsleben (1883–1930)[33]
- Kenneth Grant (1924–2011), occultist, writer, pupil of Aleister Crowley
- John Michael Greer (born 1962), occult writer, fantasist, blogger
- Eugen Grosche (1888–1964), known as Gregor A. Gregorius, German occultist, writer, founder of the lodge Fraternitas Saturni
- Manly Palmer Hall (1901–1990), occult writer, teacher
- Erik Jan Hanussen, born Hermann Steinschneider (1889–1933)
- Max Heindel (1865–1919), writer
- Rudolf Hess (1894–1987), nazi interested in magic and the occult[34]
- Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945), Nazi Reichsführer SS, also interested in magic
- Phil Hine (fl. 1980s), occult writer
- Leah Hirsig (1883–1975), American schoolteacher and occultist
- Murry Hope (1929–2012), occult writer
- L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), American writer and Scientology founder
- Christopher Hyatt (1943–2008), writer, teacher, publisher
- Alejandro Jodorowsky (born 1929), filmmaker, comic book writer, writer and teacher on "Psychemagia"
- Charles Stansfeld Jones (1886–1950), Canadian occultist and ceremonial magician
- George Cecil Jones (1873–1960), English chemist, occultist, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and co-founder of the magical order A∴A∴
- Konstantinos (born 1972), American occultist and writer[35]
- Karl Ernst Krafft (1900–1945), occultist
- Donald Michael Kraig (1951-2014), occult writer, magician
- Siegfried Adolf Kummer (1899–1977), German occultist
- Dora van Gelder Kunz (1904–1999), occult writer
- Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels (1874–1954), Austrian occultist and pioneer of Ariosophy
- Sybil Leek (1917–1982), witch and occult writer
- James Lees (1939–2015), English magician known for English Qaballa[36]
- James H. Madole (1927–1979), American neo-Nazi, founder of the National Renaissance Party and personal friend of Anton LaVey
- Friedrich Bernhard Marby (1882–1966), German rune occultist
- Grady Louis McMurtry (1918–1985), American ceremonial magician and "Caliph" of O.T.O.[37]
- Alan Moore (born 1953), British writer and occultist[38]
- Marcelo Ramos Motta (1931–1987), Brazilian occult writer and member of A∴A∴[39]
- David Myatt (born 1950), allegedly the leader of the Order of Nine Angles[40]
- Eddy Nawgu (1957–2000), Nigerian sorcerer and self-proclaimed prophet of the Biblical God[41][42]
- Nema Andahadna (1939–2018), American occultist, ceremonial magician, and writer of Liber Pennae Praenumbra.[43]
- Victor Benjamin Neuburg (1883–1940), poet and member of the A∴A∴[32]
- Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff (born 1949), occultist, science fiction writer
- Eric Nord (born Harry Helmuth Pastor; 1919–1989), American Beat Generation coffeehouse and nightclub owner, poet, actor, and hipster, the "King of the Beatniks".[44]
- Sara Northrup Hollister (1924–1997), American occultist and second wife of Scientologist founder L. Ron Hubbard.[45]
- Rosaleen Norton (1917–1979), self-proclaimed Australian witch
- Genesis P-Orridge (1950–2020), of Psychic TV video group and TOPY, chaos magician
- Jimmy Page (born 1944), musician, occultist, member of rock band Led Zeppelin
- Tommaso Palamidessi (1915–1983), Christian occultist, founder of the Archeosophical Society
- Jack Parsons (1914–1952), occultist, writer, and rocket scientist
- Helen Parsons Smith (1910-2003), American occultist and book editor, wife of John "Jack" Whiteside Parsons who married Wilfred Talbot Smith after Parson's death.[46]
- Israel Regardie (1907–1985), occult writer, magician, pupil of Aleister Crowley[47]
- C. F. Russell (1897–1987), American occultist and founder of the magical order G.B.G.[48]
- Alex Sanders (1926–1988), founder of Alexandrian Wicca
- Phyllis Seckler (1917–2004), American occultist and writer, and a lineage holder in the A∴A∴ tradition.[49]
- Pekka Siitoin (1944-2003), Finnish neo-Nazi, occultist and a Satanist.
- Miguel Serrano (1917–2009), Chilean diplomat, writer of books on Esoteric Nazism
- Stephen Skinner (born 1948), Australian writer
- Harry Everett Smith (1923–1991), visual artist, experimental filmmaker, record collector, bohemian, mystic, largely self-taught student of anthropology, and Neo-Gnostic bishop
- Wilfred Talbot Smith (1885–1957), English occultist and ceremonial magician.[50]
- Lionel Snell, occult writer, known as Ramsey Dukes
- Austin Osman Spare (1886–1956), writer, painter, magician
- Karl Spiesberger (1904–1992), German occultist
- Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925), founder of anthroposophy[51]
- Ludwig Straniak (1879–1951)
- Gerald Suster (1951–2001), occult writer[52]
- Ralph Tegtmeier (born 1952), known as Frater U∴D∴, occultist, writer, founder of Pragmatic Magic, Cyber Magic and Ice Magic
- Mellie Uyldert (1908–2009), occult writer[53]
- Doreen Valiente (1922–1999), priestess and writer[54]
- Leila Waddell (1880–1932), mystic and muse
- James Wasserman (1948–2020), American writer and occultist.[55][56]
- Don Webb (born 1960), writer of occult books and former high priest of Temple of Set[57][58]
- Sam Webster, American writer, publisher, co-founder of the Chthonic Auranian Templars of Thelema[59] and Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn[60]
- Samael Aun Weor (1917–1977), theurgist and founder of a "Gnostic movement"[61][62]
- Colin Wilson (1931-2013), English philosopher-novelist and author of The Occult: A History[citation needed]
- Jane Wolfe (1875–1958), American silent film character actress.[63]
- William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), occultist and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Catherine Yronwode (born 1947), occult author[64]
21st century
People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 21st century;
- Thomas Karlsson (born 1972), Swedish occultist and esoteric author
- Stephen Skinner (born 1948), Australian author, editor, publisher and lecturer
- Catherine Yronwode (born 1947), American writer, graphic designer, and practitioner of folk magic
See also
References
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