Mitch Horowitz
Horowitz speaking in Kansas City, Missouri in 2019
BornNovember 23, 1965 (1965-11-23) (age 58)
Occupation(s)Writer and editor
Websitemitchhorowitz.com

Mitch Horowitz (born November 23, 1965) is an American writer in occult and esoteric themes. A frequent writer and speaker on religion and metaphysics in print and on television, radio, and online, Horowitz’s writing has appeared in The New York Times,[1] The Washington Post,[2] The Wall Street Journal,[3] Time,[4] and CNN.com,[5] and he has appeared on NPR,[6] CBS News,[7] NBC News,[8] and Vice News.[9] He is the former editor-in-chief of TarcherPerigee.[10] His best-known works are Occult America (2009),[11] The Miracle Club (2018),[12] and Modern Occultism (2023).[13] In 2022, Ferdinando Buscema noted that "Horowitz is among the most articulate and respected voices in the contemporary occulture scene."[14]

Early life

The son of a legal aid attorney and a medical secretary, Horowitz grew up in Bellerose, Queens, before moving to New Hyde Park, New York.[15][16][17] He was raised in a traditional Jewish household and had an Orthodox bar mitzvah.[18][19] He developed an interest in the occult through books of folklore at his local public library, book-club catalogs at elementary school, and astrological content, such as newspaper horoscopes, whose references he historically researched.[20] Before entering publishing, he worked as a police reporter.[21] He identifies as a "believing historian" and has participated in many of the spiritual movements he writes on, such as Theosophy, New Thought, Transcendental Meditation, and the Gurdjieff Work.[22]

Career

Horowitz is the author of Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation (Bantam, 2009/2010). The book received the 2010 PEN Oakland/ Josephine Miles Award.[23]

Horowitz hosted, co-wrote, and produced the 2022 documentary The Kybalion, directed by Ronni Thomas and shot on location in Egypt.[24][25] He also appeared on seasons I and II of Shudder’s Cursed Films on AMC+, a selection of SXSW 2020.[26][27]

Horowitz advocates for the validity of academic parapsychology research, defending its findings in books, articles, and talks,[28][29][30] and he is a critic of professional skepticism.[31][32]

Horowitz plays a newscaster in the Paramount feature film My Animal, directed by Jacqueline Castel, a selection of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.[33]

Horowitz's writing has appeared in Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies,[34] Parabola,[35] Esopus,[36] Fortean Times,[37] and with the Religion News Service.[38]

Horowitz has called attention to the worldwide problem of violence against accused witches, helping draw notice to the human rights element of the issue.[39]

In 2009, Horowitz was on the faculty of the urban holistic learning center, the New York City Open Center,[40] for its annual Esoteric Quest.[41] He presented lectures at the Open Center entitled The Psychic Highway: New York’s 'Burned-Over District' and the Growth of Alternative Spirituality in America[42] and Made in America: The Hidden History of ‘Positive Thinking’.[43]

At Tarcher/Penguin, Horowitz published titles in world religion, esoterica, and the metaphysical,[44] as well as works in philosophy, social thought and politics, including Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by director David Lynch,[45] 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck and Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber. He has published a number of works by religious scholar[10] Jacob Needleman, including The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders and the What is God?[46]

Personal life

Horowitz has two sons and lives in New York City.[47]

Selected bibliography

  • Modern Occultism: History, Theory, and Practice (2023)
  • Uncertain Places: Essays on Occult and Outsider Experiences (2022)
  • Daydream Believer: Unlocking the Ultimate Power of Your Mind (2022)
  • The Miracle Habits: The Secret of Turning Your Moments Into Miracles (2020)
  • The Miracle Club: How Thoughts Become Reality (2018)
  • Mind as Builder: The Positive-Mind Metaphysics of Edgar Cayce (2017)
  • One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life (2014)
  • Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation (2009)

References

  1. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (July 4, 2014). "The Persecution of Witches, 21st-Century Style". The New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  2. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (January 9, 2019). "Machiavelli's 'The Prince' is looking pretty good in the Trump era". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  3. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (December 26, 2013). "A Nation That Accentuates the Positive". The Wall Street Journal. New York, NY. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  4. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (October 24, 2013). "The 10 Best Self-Help Books You've (Probably) Never Heard Of". Time. New York, NY. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  5. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (January 11, 2012). "How Thomas Jefferson's secret Bible might have changed history". CNN.com. New York, NY. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  6. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (September 19, 2009). "Jay-Z: A Master Of Occult Wisdom?". NPR. Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  7. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (October 2, 2009). "God, Mystics, Yoga: What Americans Believe". CBS News. New York, NY. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  8. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (October 16, 2009). "Secrets Of 'The Lost Symbol'". NBC News. New York, NY. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Your Horoscope For Today: Is Astrology B.S.?". Vice News YouTube channel. New York, NY. October 5, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  10. 1 2 People - 9/25/2006 - Publishers Weekly
  11. ↑ Porter, Christopher (September 16, 2009). "The Found Symbols: Mitch Horowitz, 'Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation'". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  12. ↑ Garrett, Lynn (August 3, 2018). "Keeping the Mind, Body, and Spirit in Tune". Publishers Weekly. New York, NY. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  13. ↑ Solomon, Will (November 26, 2023). "The Politics of the Occult: A Conversation with Historian Mitch Horowitz". CounterPunch. Petrolia, CA. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  14. ↑ Buscema, Ferdinando (December 15, 2022). ""Uncertain Places: Essays on Occult & Outsider Experiences," is a trip". Boing Boing. San Francisco, CA. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  15. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (2018). The Miracle Club: How Thoughts Become Reality. Inner Traditions. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-1-6205-5766-2.
  16. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (January 7, 2014). "Excerpt From One Simple Idea". Penguin Random House Canada. Vancouver, BC. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  17. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch. "My Father Fought the Sex Pistols", Medium, June 4, 2018. Accessed December 23, 2023. "In 1977, we moved from our bungalowed Queens neighborhood of Bellerose to the supposedly safer and rosier environs of New Hyde Park, about three miles east."
  18. ↑ "Life & Work with Mitch Horowitz". Voyage LA. Los Angeles, CA. October 15, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  19. ↑ Esensten, Andrew (November 16, 2023). "Q&A: This historian says occultism isn't 'entirely at odds with Judaism'". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. San Francisco, CA. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  20. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (2010). Occult America. Bantam Books. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-5533-8515-1.
  21. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (2018). The Miracle Club: How Thoughts Become Reality. Inner Traditions. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-6205-5766-2.
  22. ↑ Funk, Mia and Juul-Hansen, Austen (September 13, 2021). "Life & Work with Mitch Horowitz". The Creative Process. Paris, France. Retrieved December 28, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ↑ "PEN Oakland Awards". Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  24. ↑ Grobar, Matt (October 22, 2021). "Random Media Acquires 'The Kybalion'; WIA Sets Scholarship Program Partners; Sundance Institute's Kendeda Grantees; Newport Honorees". Deadline. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  25. ↑ Thomas, Ronni (January 11, 2022). "The Kybalion: A Strange Journey from Short Form to Feature". Filmmaker Magazine. Brooklyn, NY. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  26. ↑ Solis, Jorge (February 28, 2020). "Shudder's 'Cursed Films' Explores Scary Movies and Their Even Scarier Histories". Newsweek. New York, NY. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  27. ↑ Squires, John (January 15, 2020). "Shudder's Documentary Series Exploring "Cursed" Horror Film Productions Set to Premiere at SXSW". Bloody Digusting. Mundelein, IL. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  28. ↑ Mitch Horowitz (February 15, 2022). "Case Closed: ESP Is Real - Mitch Horowitz speaking at Hereticon, 2022". Mitch Horowitz YouTube channel. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  29. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (August 17, 2022). "Is Precognition Real?". Boing Boing. San Francisco, CA. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  30. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (2022). Daydream Believer - Chapter 12: "The Parapsychology Revolution". G&D Media. pp. 167–232. ISBN 978-1-7225-2691-7.
  31. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (October 26, 2020). "The man who destroyed skepticism". Boing Boing. San Francisco, CA. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  32. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch. "The Crisis of Professional Skepticism", Medium, February 27, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023. "In any case, the crisis of professional skepticism now presents an irony in which self-perceived defenders of reason brutalize truth in its name. That is the antithesis of science, good criticism, and good ethics. Our culture needs a new cohort of skeptics who strive to do better."
  33. ↑ Galuppo, Mia (December 12, 2022). "Amandla Stenberg Sundance Horror Film 'My Animal' Lands at Paramount (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  34. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (November 13, 2019). "The New Age and Gnosticism: Terms of Commonality". Brill. Leiden, The Netherlands. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  35. ↑ VOL.32:4
  36. ↑ ESOPUS MAGAZINE ::: Archive Archived 2011-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
  37. ↑ David Lynch | Profiles | Features | Fortean Times UK Archived 2009-04-20 at the Wayback Machine
  38. ↑ Horowitz, Mitch (June 3, 2016). "The minister who taught Donald Trump to 'think positive'". Religion News Service. Columbia, MO. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  39. ↑ McMaster, Andrew (October 30, 2017). "21st Century Witch Hunts Can End In Murder for the Marginalized". Global Citizen. New York, NY. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  40. ↑ New York Open Center
  41. ↑ An Esoteric Quest for Inner America
  42. ↑ New York Open Center The Psychic Highway Archived 2009-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
  43. ↑ New York Open Center Made in America: The Hidden History of ‘Positive Thinking’
  44. ↑ The Secret draws on long spiritual tradition - USATODAY.com
  45. ↑ http://www.davidlynch.com Archived 2008-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Official David Lynch Website
  46. ↑ http://www.jacobneedleman.com Official Jacob Needleman Website
  47. ↑ Mitch Horowitz - Authors - Random House
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