Contact Person : Mriganka Mukhopadhyay ; Last Date for the submission of abstract : 01/10/2018; Western Esotericism and Consciousness: Visions, Voices, Altered StatesThe history of Western esotericism from antiquity to the present is filled with reports of unusual and sometimes spectacular experiences that are claimed to convey higher, deeper, or even absolute kledge about the true nature of reality. Some typical examples are the many references to direct supra-rational gnosis, ecstatic experiences, and states of divine man