Subtle Energies in Therapy, Spirituality, Arts, and Politics: 1800-Present

Few ideas have captured the imagination of contemporary culture as powerfully as that of ’subtle energies.’ The belief in subtle energies has shaped alternative medicine and mind-body practices on a global scale. It also had a profound--although little recognized--impact on music and visual arts, debates on gender and race, as well as political and ecological movements. This groundbreaking volume uncovers the historical roots of the concept of subtle energies and explores its many trajectories.

Julian Strube is professor of Religious Studies at the University of Göttingen. He works on religion and politics from a global historical perspective, focusing on Asia, Europe, and North America. His publications cover nationalism, colonialism, political extremism, and esotericism.
Marleen Thaler is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna, where she is currently employed with the Research Centre ＂Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society＂. Her research focuses on alternative religious currents in modernity and the transformation of religion.
Dominic Zoehrer is an independent scholar based in Vienna, Austria. His research explores religion under the conditions of scientification and globalization, with related interests in the holistic milieu, spirituality and healing, esotericism, and East Asian new religious movements.