Mitch Horowitz (born November 23, 1965) is an American writer in
occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
and
esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...
themes. He is the former editor-in-chief of
TarcherPerigee
TarcherPerigee is a book publisher and imprint of Penguin Group focused primarily on mind, body and spiritualism titles, founded in 1973 by Jeremy P. Tarcher in Los Angeles. (Tarcher was notably married to ventriloquist Shari Lewis, and his sist ...
.People - 9/25/2006 - Publishers Weekly /ref> A frequent writer and speaker on religion and
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
in print and on television, radio, and online, Horowitz’s writing has appeared in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', and
CNN.com
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, and he has appeared on
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
,
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
,
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
, and
Vice News
Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...
. In 2022, Ferdinando Buscema noted that "Horowitz is among the most articulate and respected voices in the contemporary occulture scene."
Works and scholarship
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.
Horowitz hosted, co-wrote, and produced the 2022 documentary ''The Kybalion'', directed by Ronni Thomas and shot on location in Egypt. He also appeared on seasons I and II of Shudder’s
Cursed Films
''Cursed Films'' is an American documentary streaming television series produced by Shudder, a streaming service owned by AMC Networks. Written, edited and directed by Jay Cheel, the series covers alleged instances of curses surrounding films. I ...
on
AMC+
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** AM ...
, a selection of
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
2020.
Horowitz plays a newscaster in the forthcoming Paramount feature film ''My Animal'', directed by
Jacqueline Castel Jacqueline Castel is an American-born French-Canadian film director, screenwriter, and curator based in New York City. Castel's work has screened at the Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest, the Sitges Film Festival, and the International Fil ...
, a selection of the 2023
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
.
Horowitz's writing has appeared in ''Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies'',''Parabola'', ''Esopus'', ''
Fortean Times
''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (2005 to 2 ...
'', and with the Religion News Service.
Horowitz has called attention to the worldwide problem of violence against accused witches, helping draw notice to the human rights element of the issue.
In 2009, Horowitz was on the faculty of the urban holistic learning center, the New York City Open Center, for its annual Esoteric Quest. 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'' and ''Made in America: The Hidden History of ‘Positive Thinking’''.
At Tarcher/Penguin, Horowitz published titles in
world religion
World religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the five—and in some cases more—largest and most internationally widespread religious movements. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are always inclu ...
metaphysical
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
, as well as works in
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
,
social thought
Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.Seidman, S., 2016. Contested knowledge: Social theory today. John Wiley & Sons. A tool used by social scientists, social theories relat ...
and
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
, including ''Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity'' by director
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
, ''2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl'' by
Daniel Pinchbeck
Daniel Pinchbeck is an American author. His books include '' Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism'', ''2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl'' , and ''Notes from the Edge Times''. He is a co-founder ...
and ''Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq'' by
Sheldon Rampton
Sheldon Rampton (born August 4, 1957) is an American editor and author. He was editor of ''PR Watch'', and is the author of several books that criticize the public relations industry and what he sees as other forms of corporate and government prop ...
and
John Stauber
John Stauber is an American progressive writer. Stauber has co-authored five books about government propaganda, private interests and the public relations industry. His work includes one book about how industry manipulates science ('' Trust Us, ...
. He has published a number of works by religious scholar
Jacob Needleman
Jacob Needleman (October 6, 1934 - November 28, 2022) was an American philosopher, author, and religious scholar.
Needleman was Jewish and was educated at Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Freiburg, Germany.Mitch Horowitz - Authors - Random House /ref>
Bibliography
* ''Uncertain Places: Essays on Occult and Outsider Experiences'' (2022)
* ''Daydream Believer: Unlocking the Ultimate Power of Your Mind'' (2022)
* ''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)