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Considered sinister by Western religious traditions and bizarre in mainstream America, supernatural beliefs and the rituals of occult traditions are often publicly disparaged. But they are paradoxically embraced and exposed by popular culture, in television shows such as 'Bewitched' and in movies from 'The Wizard of Oz 'to 'The Craft, 'according to Emily D. Edwards. 'Metaphysical Media: The Occult Experience in Popular Culture 'is an in-depth discussion of the media's presentation of a wide spectrum of the occult that also serves as a comprehensive sourcebook of movies and television programs that deal with supernatural characters and themes. 'Metaphysical Media' focuses on the blurred definitions of topics associated with the occult as they are presented in popular culture to show moving-image media as devices that help structure an understanding of the supernatural world. Edwards examines what media treatment of supernatural subjects and the very characteristics of the media themselves reveal about the persistence of the occult. She maintains that popular art has always had a close association with the paranormal or supernatural& sometimes in illustration of an ideology, sometimes in ridicule of it, and sometimes as invocation itself. Beginning with an overview of the role of the media in contemporary society and in its use of the occult, 'Metaphysical Media' looks at the properties of media technology that extend human senses beyond biological boundaries. Edwards then discusses specific media treatment of topics related to the occult, including witchcraft, atavism, reincarnation, out-of-body experiences, and lycanthropy. She outlines the interplay of media and folklore regarding taboos about the handling of the dead and investigates media stories about creatures that cross the boundaries between human, beast, and god.

Culture in motion pictures. --- Occultism in motion pictures. --- Occultism on television.

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"Since the 1960s, the occult in film and television has responded to and reflected society's crises surrounding gender and sexuality. In Desire after Dark, Andrew J. Owens explores media where figures such as vampires and witches make use of their supernatural knowledge in order to queer what otherwise appears to be a normative world. Beginning with the global sexual revolutions of the '60s and moving decade by decade through "Euro-sleaze" cinema and theatrical hardcore pornography, the HIV/AIDS crisis, the popularity of New Age religions and witchcraft, and finally the increasingly explicit sexualization of American cable television, Owens contends that occult media has risen to prominence during the past 60 years as a way of exposing and working through cultural crises about the queer. Through the use of historiography and textual analyses of media from Bewitched to The Hunger, Owens reveals that the various players in occult media have always been well aware that non-normative sexuality constitutes the heart of horror's enduring appeal. By investigating vampirism, witchcraft, and other manifestations of the supernatural in media, Desire after Dark confirms how the queer has been integral to the evolution of the horror genre and its persistent popularity as both a subcultural and mainstream media form"--

Occultism in motion pictures. --- Sexual minorities --- Minorities in the motion picture industry. --- Motion picture industry. --- Occultism on television. --- Homosexuality in motion pictures. --- Homosexuality on television.

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Many modernist and avant-garde artists and authors were fascinated by the occult movements of their day. This volume explores how Occultism came to shape modernist art, literature, and film. Individual chapters examine the presence and role of Occultism in the work of such modernist luminaries as Rainer Maria Rilke, August Strindberg, W.B. Yeats, Joséphin Péladan and the artist Jan Švankmaier, as well as in avant-garde film, post-war Greek Surrealism, and Scandinavian Retrogardism. Combining the theoretical and methodological foundations of the field of Esotericism Studies with those of Literary Studies, Art History, and Cinema Studies, this volume provides in-depth and nuanced perspectives upon the relationship between Occultism and Modernism in the Western arts from the nineteenth century to the present day. .

Religion. --- Religions. --- Secularism. --- Fine arts. --- Religious Studies. --- Comparative Religion. --- Fine Arts. --- Ethics --- Irreligion --- Utilitarianism --- Atheism --- Postsecularism --- Secularization (Theology) --- Comparative religion --- Denominations, Religious --- Religion, Comparative --- Religions, Comparative --- Religious denominations --- World religions --- Civilization --- Gods --- Religion --- Religion, Primitive --- God --- Religions --- Theology --- Occultism in art. --- Occultism in literature. --- Occultism in motion pictures. --- Motion pictures