Occultism is one form of mysticism. This list comprises and encompasses people, both contemporary and historical, who are or were professionally or otherwise notably involved in occult practices, including alchemists, astrologers, some Kabbalists, magicians, psychics, sorcerers, and practitioners some forms of divination, especially Tarot. People who were or are merely believers of occult practices should not be included unless they played a leading or otherwise significant part in the practice of occultism.
Antiquity People professionally or notably involved in occultism prior to the Middle Ages
Saint Cyprian the Magician — 4th-century sorcerer from Antioch
Zoroaster – Founder of Zoroastrianism, reputed inventor of magic and astrology () in legend
Middle Ages People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the Middle Ages (circa 500–1500)
Abramelin the Mage – Egyptian sage (c. 1362–1458)
Marsilio Ficino – Italian astrologer and translator of the Corpus Hermeticum (1433–1499)
, reputed to have practiced Practical Kabbalah
Pseudo-Solomon – Anonymous author(s) of works falsely attributed to Solomon
16th century People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 16th century
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), occult philosopher, astrologer Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), occult philosopher Cosimo Ruggeri (fl. 1571–1615), Italian astrologer and occultist John Dee (1527–1608), occult philosopher, mathematician, alchemist, queen Elizabeth's advisor Des Eschelles Manseau (died 1571), French occultist Edward Kelley (1555–1597), spirit medium and alchemist who worked with John Dee, founder of Enochian magic John Lambe (1545–1628), astrologer to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham Nostradamus (1503–1566), one of the world's most famous prophets Paracelsus (1493–1541), medical pioneer and occult philosopher Henry Percy (1563-1632), "Wizard Earl" Johannes Reuchlin (1545–1622), German cabalist magician, summoned angels Soulmother of Küssnacht (d. 1577), Swiss medium Johannes Trithemius (1462–1516), cryptographer and magical writer Johann Weyer (aka Johannes Wierus) (1515–1588), German physician, occultist and demonologist
17th century People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 17th century
Elias Ashmole (1617–1692), the first known speculative Freemason Olaus Borrichius (1626–1690), Danish alchemist Jacob Bruce (1669–1735), Russian general, statesman, diplomat, scientist and alchemist and magician of Scottish descent Clan Bruce, one of the chief associates of Peter the Great Arthur Dee (1575–1661), Hermetic writer, son of John Dee Robert Fludd (1574–1637), occult philosopher and astrologer Isobel Gowdie (d. 1662), self-confessed professional sorcerer Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726), English physicist and alchemist"Newton's manuscripts provide evidence that he gave considerable thought to alchemy as emblematic of a purely scientific explanation of nature and was in fact deeply involved in conceiving alchemy as spiritual." F. Calian, "Some Modern Controversies on the Historiography of Alchemy" in Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU (2010), 186. Luís de la Penha (1581 - 1626), Portuguese occultist Ali Puli (17th century), anonymous author of seventeenth-century alchemical and Hermetic texts Gironima Spana (1615–1659), Italian astrologer La Voisin (1640–1680), French professional magician
18th century People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the Age of Enlightenment (18th century)
Ulrica Arfvidsson (1734–1801), politically influential Swedish fortune-teller Gustaf Björnram (1746–1804), Swedish spiritual medium Alessandro Cagliostro (1743–1795), Italian occultist Clotilde-Suzanne Courcelles de Labrousse (1747–1821), French prophet medium Antoine Court de Gebelin (1725–1784), connected tarot and esotericism Etteilla (1738–1791), fortune-teller Marie Kingué (fl. 1785), African kaperlata occultist and faith healer Marie-Anne de La Ville (1680–1725), French occultist Count of St. Germain (dl. 1784), alchemist and occultist Höffern (fl. 1722), German-Swedish fortune teller Henrietta Lullier (1716–1782), French fortune teller Franz Mesmer (1734–1815), German magnetist August Nordenskiold (1754–1792), alchemist and Swedenborgian Charlotta Roos (1771–1809), Swedish spiritual medium Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin (1743–1803), founder of Martinism, writer known as the Unknown Philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), alchemist, founder of Swedenborgianism Henrik Gustaf Ulfvenklou (1756–1819), Swedish spiritual medium
19th century People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 19th century
Evangeline Adams (1868–1932), astrologer to the famous Francis Barrett (c. 1770 – fl. 1802), wrote The Magus, a book about magic Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym (1765–1851), French demonologist Pierre Bernard (1875–1955), American occultist, businessman and yogi popularly known as "Oom The Omnipotent" Annie Besant (1847–1933), British writer, socialist and occultist Algernon Blackwood (1869–1951), member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891), founder of Theosophy Alexander Mikhaylovich Butlerov (Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Бу́тлеров; 1828–1886), Russian occultist Mary Emily Bates Coues (1835–1906), secretary, Woman's National Liberal Union Ida C. Craddock (1857–1902), occultist, writer, member of Theosophical Society Andrew Jackson Davis (1826–1910), American occultist Robert Felkin (1853–1926), medical missionary and explorer, member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Stella Matutina, writer on Africa and medicine A. Frank Glahn (1865–1941), German mystic Stanislas de Guaita (1861–1899), occult writer Arnold Krumm-Heller (1876–1949), Rosicrucian founder of FRA John George Hohman (fl. 1802–1846), American wizard Allan Kardec (1804–1869), founder of Spiritism William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874–1950), served as the 10th prime minister of Canada and was secretly into the occult Giuliano Kremmerz (1861–1930), alchemist and occult writer
Marie Laveau (1801–1881), American New Orleans Voodoo practitioner Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934), occult writer and influential member of the Theosophical Society Adyar Marie Anne Lenormand (1772–1843), French fortune-teller favoured by Joséphine de Beauharnais Eliphas Lévi (1810–1875), French occult writer and ceremonial magician Guido von List (1848–1919), Austrian writer and mystic, one of the leading thinkers within Armanism Arthur Machen (1863–1947), member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Moina Mathers (1865–1928), first initiate in Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, wife of S.L. MacGregor Mathers, and Imperatrix of the Alpha et Omega Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Damodar K. Mavalankar (1857–1885), Indian theosophist Wolf Messing (1899–1964), Polish Russian occultists, stage mentalist Papus, pseudonym for Gérard Encausse (1865–1916), occult writer Jacques Collin de Plancy (1793–1871), French occultist, demonologist and writer Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875), African American physician and sex magician Anna Rasmussen (1898–1983), Danish medium, psychic Grigori Rasputin (1869–1916), Russian mystic and healer Carl Reichenbach (1788–1869), German occultist Theodor Reuss (1855–1923), German mason August Strindberg (1849–1912), dramatist, alchemist Max Théon (1848–1927), occultist, Kabbalist, founder of the Cosmic Movement Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941), occultist, writer, particular Christian mysticism; member of GD Arthur Edward Waite (1857–1941), occult writer and member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn William Wynn Westcott (1848–1925), cofounder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1886–1945), member of A.E. Waite's the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, 1929–1939 William Butler Yeats (1865–1934), poet, astrologer, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
20th century People professionally or notably involved in occultism during the 20th century
Mirra Alfassa (1878–1971), Indian poet and mystic Kenneth Anger (1927–2023), filmmaker, writer, and Thelemite Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki (1929–2026), occultist, occult writer, teacher Alice Bailey (1880–1949), English writer, mystic and Theosophist Franz Bardon (1909–1958), occult writer, magician Frank Bennett (1868–1930), Australian chemist who was disciple of occultist Aleister Crowley Carl William Hansen (1872 - 1936), Danish farmer and occultist Michael Bertiaux (born 1935), author of the Voudon Gnostic Workbook, occult artist Kerry Bolton (born 1956), New Zealand neo-Nazi activist and writer William Breeze (born 1955), writer, musician, patriarch of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, and caliph of Ordo Templi Orientis; also known as Hymenaeus Beta William S. Burroughs (1914–1997), Beat writer W. E. Butler (1898–1978), esoteric writer Marjorie Cameron (1922–1995), scarlet woman of Jack Parsons' rituals, artist, actress Peter J. Carroll (1953–2026), occultist, writer, founder of chaos magic Constant Chevillon (1880–1944), head of FUDOFSI Chic Cicero (born 1936), esoteric writer, magician, Imperator Emeritus of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc. Sandra Tabatha Cicero (born 1959), esoteric writer, magician, Imperator of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc. Pamela Colman Smith (1878–1951), artist, painted the Rider–Waite tarot deck, member of the Hermetic order of the Golden Dawn D. J. Conway (1939–2019), occult writer Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), English occultist and ceremonial magician, founder of Thelema religion Jinx Dawson (born 1950), ceremonial magician, artist, founder of rock band Coven, recording artist Savitri Devi (1905–1982), Greek writer on Hinduism, Nazi spy and leading figure of Esoteric Nazism Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961), American modernist poet, known under the pseudonym H.D. Gerina Dunwich (born 1959), witch and occult writer Lon Milo DuQuette (born 1948), musician, lecturer, and occultist Julius Evola (1898–1974), Italian radical right philosopher, and esotericist who helped to found the UR Group Dion Fortune (1890–1946), considered one of Great Britain's most famous occultists, founder of the Fraternity of the Inner Light Jeanne Robert Foster (1879–1970), American occultist, Theosophist, and poet Paul Foster Case (1884–1954), founder of BOTA, adept of the Western mystery tradition, teacher, occult writer Fulcanelli, French alchemist and esoteric writer J. F. C. Fuller (1878–1966), British senior Army officer, military historian, and strategist Henri Gamache (fl. 1940s), authority on the Evil Eye Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884–1964), British witch, writer, father of modern Witcharft A.K.A. Wicca, latter denominated Gardnerian Wicca. Karl Germer (1885–1962), German and American businessman and occultist, US representative of Ordo Templi Orientis Sallie Ann Glassman (born 1954), practitioner of Haitian Vodou Rudolf John Gorsleben (1883–1930) Kenneth Grant (1924–2011), occultist, writer, pupil of Aleister Crowley John Michael Greer (born 1962), occult writer, fantasist, blogger Eugen Grosche (1888–1964), known as Gregor A. Gregorius, German occultist, writer, founder of the lodge Fraternitas Saturni Manly Palmer Hall (1901–1990), occult writer, teacher Erik Jan Hanussen, born Hermann Steinschneider (1889–1933) Inbaal Honigman (born 1974), Israeli-born British psychic, astrologer, and Wiccan priestess Max Heindel (1865–1919), writer Rudolf Hess (1894–1987), nazi interested in magic and the occult Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945), Nazi Reichsführer SS, also interested in magic Phil Hine (fl. 1980s), occult writer Leah Hirsig (1883–1975), American schoolteacher and occultist Murry Hope (1929–2012), occult writer