Shadow Worlds: A History of the Occult and Esoteric in New Zealand
ANDREW PAUL WOOD
Historian, critic, and culture journalist Andrew Paul Wood takes a deep dive into the history of the occult and esoteric in Aotearoa in his engrossing book, Shadow Worlds, published by Massey University Press in July.
As he sets out, New Zealanders’ fascination with the occult and esoteric dates back to the arrival of the first colonists, and many high-profile New Zealanders were actively engaged with various occult practices and movements.
‘A combination of factors was at play,’ explains Wood. ‘Spiritualism and Theosophy were relatively mainstream up until the Second World War. Other groups were very secretive, but Spiritualism and Theosophy in particular were proving grounds for aspiring social activists and liberal politics, and they offered
women experience in leadership roles they wouldn’t otherwise have had access to.’
Occult movements such as The Golden Dawn, Rosicrucianism and Radiant Living touched all levels of society, including artists, writers and politicians. Wood’s lively narrative introduces us to many colourful characters who, in the
main, were proselytising true believers. Some were charlatans, however.
Through its pages we meet, among many others:
• The American bigamist conman Arthur Worthington, who came to Christchurch in 1890 and convinced some of
the straightest-laced Cantabrians to cough up a significant fortune and embrace free love as part of his Temple
of Truth
• The New Plymouth man who lived in a beehive-shaped house based on his Norian, No Right Angles philosophy
• The Dunedin industrialist’s wife who designed a tarot pack for the notorious Aleister Crowley
• The New Zealand ‘witch’ of Sydney’s King’s Cross
• The vault beneath a Havelock North house where Golden Dawn rituals were conducted
Shadow Worlds casts fresh light on our small colonial society, making it evident that it was not as ploddingly conformist
as it appeared. Just as well-known musicians tour here today, so a century ago well-known Theosophists and Spiritualists came out on lecture tours and spoke to large crowds.
‘The depth and breadth of spiritualists in Aotearoa really did take me by surprise, particularly as some of them were
fairly high profile in the mainstream,’ Andrew Wood says. ‘I was also quite unprepared for how influential Aotearoa was in the broader field of international movements like Theosophy and Anthroposophy.’
But it’s not all a fascinating element of the past — Andrew Paul Wood takes readers through to the present day, in which
many of these occult movements are still active, bringing the shadow worlds to the mainstream.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Paul Wood is an independent art and cultural historian, critic, culture journalist and translator. For over 15 years he has written for prominent publications in Aotearoa New Zealand and elsewhere on art, architecture, design, travel, history and literature, and is involved in cultural initiatives around the country. His expertise ranges from the artist Theo Schoon to the history of the pavlova. He is the art editor for takahē magazine.
PUBLISHED BY MASSEY UNIVERSITY PRESS, 13 JULY 2023, RRP $65
