Dyskurs narodowy w przedwojennej prasie ezoterycznej. Kongres ezoteryczny w Poznaniu 1936 a sprawa polska
National discourse in the pre-war esoteric press. The 1936 Esoteric Congress in Poznań and the Polish case

Summary/Abstract: This text outlines the most important trends related to national themes in esoteric discourse and analyses a specific example of such nationalesoteric discourse in press reports from the First Polish Esoteric Congress, published in 1937 in “Hejnal” and “Lotos” – very influential local occult magazines.National threads were blatant and constantly present in the esoteric discourse in pre-war Poland, and they grew in strength and frequency as echoes of current important political events, and as comments on events independent of big politics. References to national issues, most often glorifying the patriotic attitude, were treated by Polish occultists as particularly important in understanding various esoteric concepts or esoteric philosophy in general. The esoteric philosophy of the early 20th century itself, regardless of the specificity of a particular trend, group or organisation, assumed a specific way of thinking, conducive to emphasising national themes.The idea of Poland’s mission, of offering the Polish idea to other nations, a thought that sounds dangerous today in the light of historical knowledge about the consequences of all nationalist ideologies, recurred like a refrain in Polish pre-war esoteric publications. It is therefore not surprising that it appeared where the paths of various initiation schools first crossed, i.e. at the national meeting of esotericists in 1936. And although the community was not fully represented at this congress, the Polish messianic idea and, above all, Polish missionism turned out to be the strongest and most resonant thread connecting various initiatory trends in pre-war Poland.

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