Utopian communes, alternative spirituality, and radical political activism. In the minds of many, these social phenomena first burst into being during the cultural ferment of the sixties. But according to author and historian Gary Lachman, the countercultural characteristics usually associated with the mid-twentieth century actually have their deepest roots in a series of mystical and social movements dating back to seventeenth-century Europe. In this Unbound interview, EnlightenNext’s Carter Phipps speaks with Lachman about his latest book, Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen, and the rich history of the often overlooked intersection between Western esotericism, social change, and politics.

For those who are unfamiliar with Lachman, prepare to be impressed. After gaining notoriety as one of the original bassists for the famous punk band Blondie (which won him induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), Lachman has since become a leading scholar of Western esoterica and occult spirituality, publishing major works on the “secret history of consciousness” in addition to intimate, humanistic biographies of the renowned mystics Emanuel Swedenborg, Rudolf Steiner, and P.D. Ouspensky. In this fascinating conversation, Lachman takes us on a journey through the history of Western occultism—from the Bohemian Brethren of medieval Europe to the free-loving, vegetarian Swiss community Monte Veritas of the early 1900s, and beyond—describing how such groups helped to significantly shape the social and political thought of their time.

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