ENSIE & ESSWE Conferences

ENSIE organizes conferences every year, normally in the summer. As ENSIE is affiliated to ESSWE, the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, ENSIE organises panels for ESSWE's biannual conferences.

The next conference is in 2026: ENSIE 7 (Malaga).

Future conferences
  • 2027 ENSIE 8 and ESSWE 11 (location TBA)
Past conferences
  • 2017: ESSWE6 Erfurt--program available here.
  • 2018: ENSIE1 Venice—program available here.​ Book available here.
  • 2019: ESSWE7 Amsterdam—program available here.
  • ​2020: ENSIE2 Zoom--program available here.
  • 2021: ENSIE3 Zoom--program available here.
  • 2022: ESSWE8 Cork—program available here.
  • 2023: ENSIE4 & ESSWE9 Copenhagen/Malmö--ENSIE program available here and ESSWE program available here.
  • 2024 ENSIE5 Exeter—program available here.
  • 2025: ENSIE6 and ESSWE10 Vilnius--see below.
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ESSWE 10

ENSIE participation in the biannual conference of ESSWE at Vilnius University in Lithuania (Thursday June 26 to Saturday June 28) was be a panel at 10:45-12:45 on Thursday, 26 June, 2025.

Esotericism and Rationality in Islam.
Organized by the European Network for the Study of Islam and Esotericism (ENSIE).
Chair: Jannis Kostelnik (Hamburg)
  • RATIONALITY IN THE ISLAMIC TRADITIONALISM OF RENÉ GUÉNON. Mark Sedgwick, Aarhus University, Denmark.
  • KHIDR, AN IRRATIONALIST? GUÉNON, JUNG, AND CORBIN ON THE RATIONALISM OF ISLAMIC ESOTERICISM. Antonio de Diego González, Universidad de Malaga, Spain.
  • ON THE (IR)RATIONALIST TRADITIONALIST RECEPTION OF ISLAMIC ESOTERICISM IN LITHUANIA. Ina Kiseliova-El Marassy
    Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, Vilnius, Lithuania.

14:00-15:00 Thursday, 26 June, 2025: ESSWE Network Meetings
For further information, see www.esswe10.lt.

ENSIE 6


'The program of the ENSIE workshop on Wednesday June 25, also at Vilnius University, was as follows:

12:30–12:45: Welcome
12:45–14:15: Panel 1: Foundational
  • Liana Saif (Amsterdam), “Esotericism and Antinomianism (8th-9th centuries).”
  • Fares Gillon (Aix-Marseille), “‘Human Angels’ in Early Shi'ism and Ismailism.”
  • Jannis Kostelnik (Hamburg), “Magic Squares as a Weapon of War: The Manuscript WMS Arabic 723 as an Expression of Applied Esotericism in West Africa.”
14:15–14:30: Break
14:30–16:00: Panel 2: Conceptual
  • Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute), “Sūra and Figura.”
  • Antonio de Diego González (Malaga), “Ajami-beings. An Onto-Epistemic Aperture to Islamic Esotericism.”
  • Mark Sedgwick (Aarhus), “Islam, Esotericism, and NRMs.”
16:00–16:30: Break
16:30–18:00: Panel 3: Modern
  • Oleg Yarosh (Aarhus), “Trajectories of Sufi Healing in the Post-Soviet Esoteric Milieu.”
  • Rasoul Namazi (Duke Kunshan), “Ahmad Fardid: Westoxification and Mystical Politics in Modern Iran.”
  • Maryam Abbasi (Erlangen), “Digital Mediumship: An Ethnographic Study of Spirit Mediumship on Social Media Platforms in Contemporary Iran.”
18:00–18:15: Meeting of members
19:00: ENSIE dinner

The workshop is open to all members of ENSIE and/or ESSWE. There is no fee, but please send your name to secretary@ensie.site if you intend to attend, indicating whether or not you wish to join the dinner, which participants will pay for themselves.

Contact: info@ensie.site