Strindberg's Zeitgeist

An Era of Intense Exploration & Creativity

August Strindberg's occult journey, while intensely personal, occurred within a broader cultural movement that saw many prominent writers exploring esoteric traditions during the fin-de-siècle period. His approach to occultism had distinctive qualities when compared to contemporaries like W.B. Yeats, J.K. Huysmans, Arthur Machen, and Joséphin Péladan, revealing important contrasts in methodology, influences, and artistic integration.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Strindberg approached occultism with a quasi-scientific methodology. While W.B. Yeats embraced ceremonial magic through his membership in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, participating in ritualistic practices and complex symbolic systems, Strindberg remained skeptical of organized occult societies. His experiments were more solitary and empirical, conducting alchemical tests in makeshift laboratories and attempting to photograph celestial energies directly onto plates.