The Symbol-Strewn Landscape: Esoteric and Initiatic Symbolism in European Gardens in the 18th and 19th Century

Christopher McIntosh – Germany

[This essay was first published in Masonic and Esoteric Heritage: New Perspectives for Art and Heritage Policies. Proceedings of the First International Conference of the OVN, Foundation for the Advancement of Academic Research into the History of Freemasonry in the Netherlands, October 20-21, 2005. Ed. A. Kroon, M. Bax, J. Snoek. The Hague, Netherlands: OVN Foundation, 2005. It is reproduced here in a revised form.]

Dr. Christopher McIntosh is an independent historian and author on history, mythology and western esotericism. This paper is based on his book Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning, (I. B. Tauris) London 2005. Currently he teaches in the distance MA programme at the Centre for the Study of Esotericism, Exeter University, England. He lives in Bremen, Germany.